The Journal-Register
ALBION —
The last manufactured roll of Kodachrome film wound up in the hands of photographer Steve McCurry, and so ends an era of photography that I will miss in some ways. There are some fond memories associated with rolls of film, but I still remember many of the horror stories, as well.
One disadvantage of using film was that the image had to be developed, and rolls of film typically contained around 24 “exposures” that could not be deleted if you messed the shot up. I remember shooting a roll of film at an REO Speedwagon concert in 1981, only to find out that the band members were blurry specs when the pictures were developed.
I also remember dealing with some of my cheaper cameras, which required you to rewind the film back into the roll, and if you did not roll it back all the way in the roll, then you opened the back of the camera and exposed all the film.
Sometimes people inadvertently exposed the film, but you didn’t find out about it until you went to pick up your pictures from one of those little photo huts. After waiting a day or two for pictures from your birthday party, you are handed an envelope filled with negatives that were blank. I think that may also have happened because I turned in rolls of film to be developed that I had not taken pictures on.
Of course when you used film, pictures were special. Abraham Zapruder captured one of only a few images of the Kennedy assassination on Kodachrome film, but if the Kennedy assassination took place today there would have been a thousand cell phones and digital cameras catching every angle. It would be on YouTube within minutes.
I guess in some ways digital images have made photographs less special. Instead of worrying about getting the best 24 shots, any amateur photographer can fire off a few hundred pictures in minutes. Now, people photograph just about everything, like nose hairs, blades of grass and animal feces. I know I have photographed at least two of the things on the previous list.
When I attend a concert now, I shoot at least 100 photos in the hope that a few will turn out to be masterpieces so I can post them on Facebook. By the end of a typical concert, I will have photographed every possible expression on the artist’s face and will likely have 10 to 15 pictures of the back of their head, another 10 with half of them out of the picture and a dozen so incredibly blurry it looks like I was attending a haunting.
I will miss film for one reason. With digital, there is no “mystery roll” that shows up in a junk drawer, that roll of film you were too lazy to bring to the photo hut or just forgot about. The last roll of film I had developed was a mystery roll that contained pictures of my dad with my son Thomas. It was years after he had passed away, so it was really special to see his image again, especially with his grandson whom he loved so much.
I really miss my dad, and I guess I will miss Kodachrome film, too.
Thom Jennings lives in Albion. For comments, write to holly.toal@journal-register.com. The Real Deal from Orleans County is now available as an audio podcast on iTunes.
