The Very Last Roll of Kodachrome Film Ever Made Was Used to Capture NYC

[dmr]

guess I should get one roll or two and shoot some things just for the hell of it

LOL, if you can find it! It's been out of dealers' stock for months.

Last I saw it on That Auction Site<tm> it was around US$15 per roll.

I am about to finish up my last two rolls, and I seriously doubt if I will acquire any more.

 

[Mister E]

LOL, if you can find it! It's been out of dealers' stock for months.

Last I saw it on That Auction Site<tm> it was around US$15 per roll.

I am about to finish up my last two rolls, and I seriously doubt if I will acquire any more.

I've bought gobs of it over the last year for $2 a roll for 10 year expired stuff that was still good to about $4 a roll for stuff that expired last year.

 

[Mephiloco]

Yeah I see it for sale all the time, was thinking I'd do a roll in the future sometime, but I didn't realize it'll have to be sooner rather than later

 

[umcelinho]

I saw his exhibit in Buenos Aires and he has shots that I really liked, but somewhat they felt a lot like "right place at the right time". Then again, the true masters are the ones that make their work look like it was really easy to be done. Watch a great illustrator, drawer or musician doing their thing and then try to do the same: you'll get it.

 

[sirius]

Re: McCurry

His portraits are pretty stock, because they focus on the people and the characters rather than style. McCurry is a "straight" photographer, so you won't see a lot of editorializing and stylish effects. You will notice with his portraits that they are impeccably arranged, beautifully lit like a classic painting, and are not smiling shiny people rather regular people...strangers that he manages to get in close enough to photograph.

When I bought Unguarded Moments, my opinion of him changed. These are less portrait than people in environments and situations. They are impeccably framed with gorgeous colour and decisive moments in the HCB tradition.

Magnum had a blog for a while that was really great, but I think they stopped because of all the negative comments and slagging they got. I think people just get tired of seeing images in the media over-kill, and don't give these old masters a lot of respect. David Alan Harvey said "No body busts it like Steve," and he's a tremendously hard working and committed photographer who has earned his every success.

That said, it's ok not to like his work, certainly. But to dismiss it! Wow.

 

[PatrickONeill]

Re: McCurry

His portraits are pretty stock, because they focus on the people and the characters rather than style. McCurry is a "straight" photographer, so you won't see a lot of editorializing and stylish effects. You will notice with his portraits that they are impeccably arranged, beautifully lit like a classic painting, and are not smiling shiny people rather regular people...strangers that he manages to get in close enough to photograph.

When I bought Unguarded Moments, my opinion of him changed. These are less portrait than people in environments and situations. They are impeccably framed with gorgeous colour and decisive moments in the HCB tradition.

Magnum had a blog for a while that was really great, but I think they stopped because of all the negative comments and slagging they got. I think people just get tired of seeing images in the media over-kill, and don't give these old masters a lot of respect. David Alan Harvey said "No body busts it like Steve," and he's a tremendously hard working and committed photographer who has earned his every success.

That said, it's ok not to like his work, certainly. But to dismiss it! Wow.

I agree, Unguarded moments is an excellent book. btw, he does have a blog that he writes himself. its refreshing because it appears to be written by him, and not a pr hack. Its pretty relevant and its more than just him hawking his wares. but commentary about current events and such.

 

[Mister E]

I went to see his Unguarded Moments exhibition in Seoul in May. It was spectacular. I'm glad to see Amazon has more of the book in stock. I canceled my order after being on a waiting list for more than 90 days.

 

[johannielscom]

Just imagine how skilled a person/photographer one must be to capture so many people in front of your lens, all looking so much at ease.

Maybe photographically these portraits aren't all that challenging (are they not?), but you need huge people skills to be able to make portraits like these. Possibly more so considering it's unlikely he spoke with people in their own language.

my ode to Steve's portraits:

My son Jonah, at age eight. From hand with D300 and DC-Nikkor 135/2.0.

Not easy at all, those McCurry portraits.

 

[dyao]

I've bought gobs of it over the last year for $2 a roll for 10 year expired stuff that was still good to about $4 a roll for stuff that expired last year.

I'm trying to buy some now but they go for $6 minimum on eBay...

 

[Mister E]

I'm trying to buy some now but they go for $6 minimum on eBay...

2-3 months ago the market hit rock bottom on KR64. Now prices are going up again as supply wears very thin. I'm sure as people see they cannot shoot all their rolls by the end of the year you'll see lower prices again. I wouldn't pay $6 a day for any expired film.

 

[semilog]

Taking nothing away from neither of them, I would have voted for Alex Webb.

martin

...or Bill Allard.

 

[35mmdelux]

3 rolls left here. I've read that some E-6 has good stability. Color? Nope.

 

[35mmdelux]

2-3 months ago the market hit rock bottom on KR64. Now prices are going up again as supply wears very thin. I'm sure as people see they cannot shoot all their rolls by the end of the year you'll see lower prices again. I wouldn't pay $6 a day for any expired film.

Yes, but this isn't "any expired film."

 

[CaptainMike]

Re: McCurry

His portraits are pretty stock, because they focus on the people and the characters rather than style. McCurry is a "straight" photographer, so you won't see a lot of editorializing and stylish effects. You will notice with his portraits that they are impeccably arranged, beautifully lit like a classic painting, and are not smiling shiny people rather regular people...strangers that he manages to get in close enough to photograph.

Ya. I think this 'generational thing' that was mentioned earlier is on account of the urban 'hipster' culture that emanates in a lot of today's artistic mediums--music, photography, painting, etc. It is more about 'edge', as opposed to 'classic'. Even though Im of the same generation as swoop, I personally hate that hipster nonsense and enjoy McCurry's, and similar, photos.

But back to the original issue...Ive not shot Kodachrome and I probably never will now.

 

[Mister E]

Yes, but this isn't "any expired film."

Sure it is. All I know is I've bought:
11 Rolls KR200 Expired 2002 (Pink Shift) - $12
20 Rolls KR64 Expired 1998 (Lookeds Good) - ~$40
15 Rolls KR64 Expired 2009 - $50 or so
6 Rolls KR64 Expired 2005 - Free from my local lab
1 Roll KR25 - Free from a friend

It's a film like any other. I wanted to shoot it but no film is worth $15 a roll to me.

 

[PKR]

Ya. I think this 'generational thing' that was mentioned earlier is on account of the urban 'hipster' culture that emanates in a lot of today's artistic mediums--music, photography, painting, etc. It is more about 'edge', as opposed to 'classic'. Even though Im of the same generation as swoop, I personally hate that hipster nonsense and enjoy McCurry's, and similar, photos.

But back to the original issue...Ive not shot Kodachrome and I probably never will now.

It looks like McCurry is using a medium size diffuser/ reflector and the occasional addition of a speedlight. I'm sure he tries to make the best use of any soft light the day provides. If you look at the locations, he's likely traveling as light as possible. Many of the older photographers (I'm one) were taught the lighting that painters used and then Penn, Avedon, Phil Marco, etc. studio lighting techniques. We were then left to come up with our own. I think McCurry is from that school. p.

 

[martin s]

...or Bill Allard.

Very interesting, thanks for the link.

martin

 

[PKR]

...or Bill Allard.

Hi;

I went to the google link of Bill Allard's photos. While a nice grouping. I noticed at least one photo in the group that wasn't taken by Allard. If you know Allards work you might have a look , there may be more. Google has a problem linking things and there are some errors and some folks taking advantage of the collection error. I know Penn's work fairly well. When doing a similar search, I found a couple of photos that weren't Penn's. On searching one of the bogus pictures, I found the associated text fell into the search-bots settings to attribute it to Penn. The photographer is getting a lot of net coverage via Mr. Penn. This was a crafted ploy. He's done it with two images I've found so far. I found a second photographer who's photo (a very good photo in my opinion) credited to Penn. I think the error in this case was google using a search of The Hasselblad awards. I hope this doesn't become a trend. p.

 

[shadowfox]

You guys are amazing. I thought this thread is about celebrating Kodachrome. 🙁

If it were for sale and I can afford it, I would buy a print of that last frame with Steve Curry and the Taxi whose plate number is PKR 36.

 

[PKR]

You guys are amazing. I thought this thread is about celebrating Kodachrome. 🙁

If it were for sale and I can afford it, I would buy a print of that last frame with Steve Curry and the Taxi whose plate number is PKR 36.

Well yes, you are correct. Sometimes things just wander around a bit. But, they usually end up back on track. I've been scanning Kodachrome here for the past two weeks. I'm seeing a lot of older stuff; like from the 70s. The color is good on all this stuff. i don't think any of the newer films will be able to hold up to this standard, as they are mostly dye-coupler films. Kodachrome is-was a B+W film with the dye added. Too bad. It will be missed by many. p.