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Continuing slow demise of the analogue

anna kapinska
May 4, 2016
2 min read

Surely, there is no denying that film photography is a slowly dying giant of the past, but still it is heartbreaking to see both small businesses and large companies dedicated to the analogue going into administration or liquidation. As analogue photographers we are already largely dependent on ourselves where it comes to processing films and prints, and the end will eventually come once the final company ditches producing film and chemicals. I thought it was getting close to it a number of years ago when our legendary giant Kodak went into administration. I did stack up then on a modest number (maximum affordable for a student) of rolls of TriX – arguably the film for photojournalism. It was time of saying goodbye to Kodachrome64 and – at that point not yet discovered by me, but apparently already discontinued in 2007 – the High Speed Infrared film. After all the fortune was not as bad as feared, and also the analogue part of the company was rescued albeit severely cut down. But for how long?

Kodak is a large company, yet easily got into problems. On the other hand there are small businesses facing similar fate. City Photographic in Southampton was one such family owned small business, with knowledgeable employees, dedicated to film and old cameras. I was a big supporter of them when I lived in the UK between 2008 and 2013, and likely that was why it stroke me. On my last trip just last week I was popping in my head to check for any interesting old equipment. But what has welcomed me was a fresh liquidation notice. It is truly sad to see them go!

So what next? What if there is no more films, papers, and chemicals to process all of these? Make my own? Well, it is not impossible, though I have never tried so I wouldn't even know how hard it may be to get hold of all necessary raw chemicals. On the other hand, perhaps it is the right moment to start looking into this when ingredients are still easily available. Not going to fight for the death for it, but not going to ditch it easily either. I can only hope that the demise will stop at least at the stage when analogue is considered purely alternative art – rare, expensive but still accessible.

The useful note.. The Australian market is too small for any of this and since I arrived here down under I have been stocking on almost everything through US and UK dealers. So, here is a list of stockists (continuously updated), that I am aware of and use, that provide the rarest of the supplies: