We Hear from Nathan Benn

I had a nice note yesterday from Nathan Benn, whose photographs and forthcoming book we discussed in the post titled "The Color Disease":

Nathan Benn here. I am overwhelmed by the response to Matt McCann's story on the New York Times Lens Blog about Kodachrome Memory. I was literally brought to tears by the generosity and spirit of some of the comments. I started redacting my archive in 2003, and I was doubtful whether anybody today would find pleasure in looking at the pictures. The comments on the NYT Lens Blog and The Online Photographer are a very happy surprise. Thank you.

There are several interesting points or questions in the blog comments to which I intend to respond. But for now, I'd like to comment on just a couple of items. Kodachrome II was the most beautiful color film I ever used. Not the most accurate. Kodachrome 25, the replacement, was introduced in 1974 and colors were more accurate. Neither did green well, but great red, yellow and blue! KII was warmer and that often worked well, especially in "magic hour" light. My friend and National Geographic Society (NGS) colleague William Albert Allard was the greatest master of KII and the magic hour…I'm a piker next to Bill.

There is a fascinating book about making Kodachrome by Robert Shanebrook, who was the one of the guys in Rochester who made the stuff. It is called Making Kodak Film, and is out of print. But Bob is still offering it at his website.

A little back story on my image of the woman on the steps, "New Haven, Vt. 1973." I was shooting a "state story" on Vermont for National Geographic magazine. I was in New Haven to photograph an annual workshop of writers. I was there about three days, and didn't make a single frame of the writers that was worth a damn. Somebody told me about a "hippie commune" nearby called Lorien Farm. I wandered in a couple of times, following around the young and earnest farmers who shared the old farm and lived together. The woman on the step had just emerged from the kitchen, waiting for the commune members to come to dinner. I was really focusing on a young man leading a horse and wagon into the nearby barn. I turned and saw the woman, liked the light, made a little effort to frame her between the leaves. We never spoke. She was standing on those steps for maybe 30 seconds and I think I have four frames. Her hands and legs are positioned effectively as you see them in only one frame.

The image never made it to the layout room. Years later it was one of my three images in the NGS Odyssey show and book. That was first publication…I shot it in 1973 but it wasn't really seen until 1988. Kodachrome II with an 85mm lens on a Nikon F. (Mostly I used Leica M's). The original transparency is lost. Thankfully, National Geographic made a hi-res drum scan for the Odyssey show and it prints quite nicely.

A word about the color you saw in the Lens Blog. I don't know why most images there are so garishly saturated. There was some error in making the JPEGs, and it doesn't matter now how that happened. The few images on my site kodachromememory.com are much closer to my intention. However, my targets are the pages of the book and my fine art prints on Epson Hot Press Bright. The reflective versions are more subtle and I hope you will approve.

Thank you for your attention,

Nathan

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Comments

[Colin]

Sorry to post this comment here, but comments are closed on the relevant post now. I just wanted to express my sincere thanks for your post about The Digital Print by Jeff Schewe. I ordered it via your link and it's just arrived. I've been moving through a fog of uncertainty since purchasing an Epson R3000 printer a few months back. Having skimmed through Schewe's book, it looks EXACTLY the book I was looking for. Thank you so much.

[Paulo Bizarro]

What a wonderful story around this photo. Thanks to Nathan for sharing it.

[Stephen McCullough]

Very, very cool.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

It's a sign of TOP's reputation, or at least how sane it looks to a quick glance, how often we get visits from people that become a topic here. You seem to be doing things right, Mike!

[Stuart Hamilton]

Thanks Nathan for your response to my wish to know more about the New Haven photo. As it turns out, I don't know the people or the place, but that in no way diminishes the pleasure it gives me.

Thanks also for mentioning Bill Allard. His name doesn't come up very often but his pictures - in particular those in the amazing cowboy book "Vanishing Breed" - are very important to me.

[Sam Murphy]

Print sale print sale print sale!

[William Wragg]

I just love this photograph, so I just went to see about a fine art print of this on Nathan's website, unfortunately way out of my league. Perhaps a candidate for a top sale, in a smaller version than Nathan currently sells?

[Hendrik]

I second the motion for a print sale.

[Roberto]

I'm in for a print sale too.

[Eolake Stobblehouse]

I'm not surprised at all the love the Woman On The Stairs is getting. I loved it instantly. For me it's one of those rare pictures which justify photography as an Art medium.