Back to the Past

I learned today that that there is now only one photo shop - literally, one - on the entire planet authorized to process Kodachrome film. Sure, it was obviously going to happen, and obviously, one day, that one shop will also cease processing. It's inevitable, as time and technology move on.

Or...do they?

Take a look at the photos posted early in the thread:

Kodachrome photos on DP Review

Absolutely stunning, and taken 65 years ago with equipment my kids wouldn't even recognize as a camera. Equipment you can buy used for pennies on the dollar that puts to shame virtually every digital camera in existence.

More here:

Alfred Palmer @ Shorpy.com
Jack Delano @ Shorpy.com

What the hell happened? Billions of dollars - decades of time - spent on research and development and only now do we have digital cameras that can - maybe - arguably - approach the image quality first obtained 65 years ago. Meanwhile an entire generation of would-be photographers is growing up without any understanding of just how far the tonal boundaries were pushed decades before they were even born.

This is a strange definition of progress...