Photo Talk: Kodachrome, created by God and Man, will soon disappear

Kodachrome, created by God and Man, will soon disappear by F.H.Tong Jun. 2, 2005

(Some may not know what is Kodachrome. It is the best color positive film.)

Recently, Kodak announced that Kodachrome Super 8 would be ended. Same as before, many royal users are trying to get a last lot of supply. The only remaining may be 16 mm Kodachrome and with the digital imaging, even film industry may have to abandon the very last Kodachrome on earth.

I have said that I am lucky to live in the period where color photography started from Kodacolor to Ektar, B/W photography from Panatomic X to T-max etc. Yet, the heartbreaking experience of losing the best of each category is also something for me too.

When Kodak announced the end of Elite paper, I had ordered a great quantity. Unfortunately, without the chance to use for a few years, the greatest B/W paper in my hand became outdated and ended in the trash.

That is the last time for me for such decision because I realized that all good things would be gone and it would be better to concentrate on new media instead.

It may be meaningless to keep on telling those good things in the past. Newcomers will not share the same feeling and certainly will not care because they have no experience with that.

All traditional films will be obsolete, now or in the shortest future. There is no way to save them. Consumer market is the only force to decide which can be existed and which should be dump.

What I want to say is that Kodachrome represented a great story not only about color photography, it is about a number of references for photography and other development. I always keep in mind that my courses must encourage students to search their way of development.

It was a race to produce the first color film between Kodak and Agfa. in the 30's. Every photo scientists had followed the same principle suggested by early researchers. Leopard Mannes and Leopard Godowsky had been musician in profession and amateur photographers at that time. They were so keen about color photography and decided to work their own way to develop color film. Because they had no such education background, they created an entirely different concept. Without a lab, they had to work in hotel etc. for their research work.

They had been introduced to Dr. Mees, who was the head of research in Kodak. It is certain that Dr. Mees invited them to work in Kodak where they could concentrate on their research with support from all other units. The two men, nicknamed God and Man, had invented the Kodachrome, the best color film in history. We may be surprised that these two great guys returned to their original professional instead.

Leopard Mannes & Leopard Godowsky	George Eastman, Mees, Edison	The first Kodachrome	Grasshoper by C.K. Soh with Kodachrome

The process of Kodachrome remains the highly guarded secret. We know that Kodachrome has no color dye and the color is added during process. That is why, besides major markets where Kodak has processing services for Kodachrome, it is difficult for photographers of other areas because films had to sent for processing that would take a few weeks. In Hong Kong, it had happened some tens of years ago when an advertising agency had made a commercial with Kodachrome but never got it back. As usual, they got compensation of the same quantity of film, but not the cost of filming. It is certain that such event scared away other users.

As photographers ourselves, Leopard Mannes and Leopard Godowsky demonstrated that it was not the photo scientists and manufacturers to invent the best color film. We may never find such great guys anymore.

For talking for other topics, e.g. about industrial development etc. I like to mention this case as an example of the difference between East and West. In Eastern mind, such guys were fools who worked hard for something but not to enjoy the benefit. I am sure that there are many similar cases although I have no time to investigate. Such culture made the western world so successful. In my view, easterners would never have such type of people before, now and in the future. Of course, with today's situation and mentality, we may not be able to find anyone like them anymore, even in the western countries.

Kodachrome remains the only film with superb color and with much longer life than any other color films. The only thing that I am upset is that there are too few articles about these two great men who invented it. Even if we do not have Kodachrome or all color films in the future, their work should be remembered by all of us who enjoy color photography with a click only.

Note: When I asked for Kodachrome photo, Mr. C.K. Soh told me that luckily the photos taken with Kodachrome remained fine while others were not.

Mantis taken by C.K. Soh with Kodachrome