National Geographic: Steve McCurry's Last Roll of Kodachrome

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Did a brief search and didn't see anything in the general discussion forums..

http://youtu.be/DUL6MBVKVLI

National Geo follows McCurry around New York and abroad for his last roll of Kodachrome. The little anecdotes McCurry drops are very insightful both technically and conceptually.

What bugs me personally, though, is that he's shooting test shots with digital before shooting the "real thing." It ruins the fluidity in my opinion.
 
I understand where he's coming from--the sanctity of that last roll. Just found it funny to have 135 be treated so preciously, but perhaps this is how things will be in 5-10 years.

For me, the pausing to get the right exposure for human subjects has always been a bit bothersome because I personally believe more in capturing that moment than nailing the right exposure.

Going back to your point, you figure with tens of thousands, you'd figure he'd be shooting the stuff like sunny/16.
 
It is not just generic "135" which is being treated "so preciously" - that might be "funny".

It is the LAST roll of Kodachrome to be produced ... in the WORLD. I don't see how you can both "understand" this AND still make the "found it funny to have 135 be treated so preciously" comment.

That he has shot "tens of thousands" of such images before is entirely irrelevant. He hasn't shot tens of thousands of the LAST roll before now, has he ? Especially with the additional pressure of understanding that EVERY exposure on that roll will be subject to world-wide scrutiny (as per his project guidelines), rather than isolated "selects" of the best of a roll/several rolls.

It seems eminently sensible to me that he would wish to make it as error-free as possible ... just for this one roll, not as an overall approach throughout his entire career. Maybe you don't feel pressure and would be as comfortable taking a "3 point shot" in a final to win a world championship with an enormous audience looking on. Most people would find that harder than taking the same shot in a normal game where your team is way ahead, there are minimal consequences and far less scrutiny.
 
lights

lights

During the portrait shoot in NY (about 9:40 mark) you can see his assistant holding up an LED light panel as a light modifier. He made extensive use of it for his take on the Pirelli calendar. Interesting idea!
 
DamenS said:
It is not just generic "135" which is being treated "so preciously" - that might be "funny".

It is the LAST roll of Kodachrome to be produced ... in the WORLD. I don't see how you can both "understand" this AND still make the "found it funny to have 135 be treated so preciously" comment.
Click to expand...

You really take this very seriously huh? 😉 I'm with him. I can understand and also think it is funny. 10 years earlier they would have treated this roll just like any other roll of film.
 
Nice video, and is an interesting contrast also to see a roll of 35mm film being shot in the same manner as a large format photographer might shoot.
 
Imagine the reaction if they ever discontinue Tri-X............!!

Seriously, though, I'm glad Kodak had the sensitivity to give the last roll to Steve McCurry as he, produced more truly iconic images than anyone else I can think of. Would I have wasted a frame of it if I were in his shoes? No chance. I'd have used whatever it took to meter the shots as slide film is as unforgiving as it gets.

For anyone interested, Steve McCurry has a small exhibition on at Chris Beetles' gallery in London until 9th February:

www.chrisbeetlesfinephotographs.com/exhibitions/steve-mccurry.html
 
jsrockit said:
You really take this very seriously huh? 😉 I'm with him. I can understand and also think it is funny. 10 years earlier they would have treated this roll just like any other roll of film.
Click to expand...

I guess I'm still in mourning at the death of such a dear old friend (and it unfortunately looks like it may have been of a vastly contagious disease). I swear I still wear all black clothing when I go out to shoot (actually it's my 1980's Ninja garb, which I think helps with street photography, but still ...).

Of course, 10 years earlier it wouldn't have been the last roll of Kodachrome he was shooting - that's the very point. If zoologists discovered a live Dodo today, I would bet my life the response would be markedly different from zoologists discovering a live Dodo 351 years earlier. This seems to be both reasonable and entirely explicable; so I'm not entirely sure from whence the humour springs. Still, different strokes for different folks ... I'm sure there are people out there who would find efforts devoted to documenting and preserving a solitary remaining Dodo in this modern age to be positively hilarious and nonsensical ... 🙂
 
Perhaps this is a difference in language, but "funny" in American can also mean "odd." But at times, the odd or absurd can be comical.

Going back to the original discussion, I think the process that Robert Frank or Winograd takes speaks to me more, which is why I found McCurry's approach intriguing and not really my style. I've seen the final output and it feels a bit disjointed. I understand he wants to fill 36 frames with iconic, perfect shots, but personally, if those 36 frames were of say an evening out with his family, the intimacy there might speak to me more.

This is not to belittle McCurry in any way, or say I can do it better than him, but moreso the process and final product didn't resonate with me as much as it may with other viewers.
 
Not only was he dealing with the only, very last roll (a point made by many before me), but he was also making a NG documentary at the end of which the developed roll was to be shown!

I don't know you, but just like him I'd have done all I could to not screw it up (the only difference being that he managed to get some truly stunning shots and I probably wouldn't..)
 
thx for sharing! was also bit surprised of using digital as reference before checking the video. but delivering anything but perfect shots from gig like this, its quite obvious now. also, concentrating to portraits. hmm... maybe he even shot two rolls, not just one 😉

am glad I had few rolls of this film in the last year when it was still available (though many were underexposed, shooting slides is tricky 😛 )
 
The LAST Kodachrome

The LAST Kodachrome

Thanx for posting, interesting video. Did anyone else notice that the LAST roll of Kodachrome was loaded, at 03:33, into an F100 and the back was closed, at 03:45 on an F6 ? 😕
 
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