Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, photographer to Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, captured images of everyday Russian life, leaving a visual record of peasant, proletariat, and imperial culture. This includes images of Russia’s iconic architecture, the status of transportation before 1917, and the diverse ethnic cosmology of empire. The Empire That Was Russia is a searchable database making these photographs available for academic and private consumption. Here, Prokudin-Gorskii’s black and white and sepia toned images have been converted into color through the digichromatography color rendering process resulting in a richer visual experience of the last days of the Russian Empire.
Tags: architectural history, art history, cultural history, digichromatography, photographic processes, photography, Russia, sociology
Posted by Ashley Chadwick on October 8, 2009 in architectural history, architecture, art, image presentation, images, landscape, photography | No Comments »
Photo courtesy of stevenkamenar on Flickr
Paul Simon’s lyrics from his 1973 song “Kodachrome” have come to fruition. Facing declining demand, Kodak has taken away the film that shot those “nice bright colors, those greens of summers.”
Usage of the film, primarily for 35mm slides, peaked in the 50s and 60s. Kodachrome was known for its archival stability and rich colors.
Kodachrome represented only 1% of Kodak’s sales and the remaining film will be donated to the George Eastman House Museum.
Photojournalist Steve McCurry – his Kodachrome photograph “Afghan Girl” is the most recognized image in the history of National Geographic – will shoot one of the last rolls of the historic color film.
Read more in the Democrat and Chronicle’s Article
View Kodak’s slide-show of great Kodacrhome Moments
Tags: analog, Kodachrome, Kodak, photographic processes, preservation
Posted by Joan Winter on June 23, 2009 in photography | No Comments »
Polaroid photography of the factory in Enschede, courtesy of the Impossible Project
The New York Times profiled Dutch scientists working to recreate Polaroid film in a factory in Enschede, Netherlands. Facing competition from the ease and economy of digital photography, Polaroid stopped producing instant film in June 2008. The art form, while nearly obsolete, still inspires nostalgic fondness. “It is about the importance of analog aspects in a more and more digital world” said entrepreneur Florian Kaps.
The Impossible Project aims to reinvent materials and chemical process while making Polaroid film prevalent and economically viable again.
Tags: analog, Impossible Project, photographic processes, photography, Polaroid, preservation
Posted by Joan Winter on June 1, 2009 in images, photography | No Comments »
Created by the Image Permanence Institute at Rochester Institute of Technology, the Graphic Atlas explores the science behind prints from the pre-photographic to the digital. With magnified views of the emulsion, and of the print under various light sources, the Graphic Atlas aids in the identification and understanding of photographic processes.
Tags: conservation, Graphic Atlas, photographic processes, photography
Posted by Joan Winter on April 15, 2009 in art, images, photography | No Comments »
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