An Old Friend Retires: Kodachrome

Yesterday, Kodak announced that it will retire Kodachrome film, a long time staple of color photography. According to Kodak’s press release about the discontinuation, Kodachrome was “the world’s first commercially successful color film in 1935,” as well as “the film of choice for family slide shows of the Baby Boom generation.”

Debuted in 1935, Kodachrome itself isn’t exactly a Boomer – its formative years were spent by the time the post-WWII Boom began. However, many Baby Boomers grew up with Kodachrome, and after 74 years of color-popping pictures, I think we’re all a little sad to see it go.

During our childhood, Kodachrome was the film our parents used on a vacation abroad– preserving scenes like the ones featured in National Geographic’s special exhibit, “Kodachrome Culture: The American Tourist in Europe.” (Open to the public, free of charge, June 25 – September 9, 2009)

In 1973, we sang along to Paul Simon’s famous “Kodachrome” lyrics:

“Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, Oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don’t take my Kodachrome away”

And even in more recent years, Kodachrome captured some of the images of the world that took our breath away. Baby Boomer Steve McCurry, one of America’s most renowned professional photographers, used Kodachrome to shoot many of his incredible photographs, including that of Sharbat Gula – an Afghan girl with haunting eyes – which graced the cover of National Geographic’s June 1985 issue.

For a trip down a bright and colorful memory lane, check out Kodak’s retrospective Kodachrome slideshow, as well as the New York Times’ LENS blog story.

Share your own memories of Kodachrome and the years it captured in our comments section! What photographs do you hold dear, and what are the scenes they preserve?

Filed under: Boomers • News