While these images are out-of-camera jpegs, their warmth and contrast recall the best qualities of Kodachrome. The brainchild of two Leopolds, Mannes and Godowsky, musicians working in Kodak labs, Kodachrome became the world's first successful color film in 1935. Essentially a positive monochrome emulsion, the film gains its color dyes when processed, something only Kodak or its licensed labs did. When viewed at certain angles, that ghost of black and white may be seen on the surface of a Kodachrome transparency. For 75 years the unique properties of man and God's creation inspired both notable photographers like Ernst Haas, and captured the popular imagination. Songwriter Paul Simon's 1973 plaint Don't take my Kodachrome away came to pass in 2010, but its classic look lives on in digital filter effects.
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