It's been (give or take) three years since the last roll of Kodak's famous Kodachrome film was produced. Kodachrome is noted for its vibrant, true-to-life color and field tested hardiness; it was the go-to 35mm format film for the professional on assignment. One such professional had a particularly long and fruitful relationship with the film: his name is Steve McCurry, a 35-year-plus photography veteran who shot primarily for National Geographic - perhaps you know his famous image of the Afghan girl.
Upon hearing that Kodachrome was going the way of the dodo, McCurry took it upon himself to ask for the final roll that came off the line. In the above documentary, McCurry is followed by his longtime employer as he travels the world looking for the best photo opportunities to give the film a proper sendoff. He photographs everything (and everyone) from Robert DeNiro in New York City to nomadic farmers in India. Thanks to his decades work for National Geographic, which was often chock-full of short-notice traveling, McCurry takes the arduous task of flying and driving around with the film camera (and a digital camera for test shots) in stride. As the film roll comes to an end, he finds himself in the last place on Earth that develops Kodachrome, Dwayne's Photo in Parsons, Kansas (at the time of this writing, they have ceased development). As for his closing thoughts on the film, McCurry notes that although he's been shooting digitally for years, "I don’t think you can make a better photograph under certain conditions than you can with Kodachrome. If you have good light and you’re at a fairly high shutter speed, it’s going to be a brilliant color photograph. It had a great color palette. It wasn’t too garish."
The results of the final Kodachrome roll can be seen here in a higher-quality Vanity Fair slideshow. Do you think McCurry did the film justice?
Rabari tribal elder, India, 2010 (Steve McCurry)