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What's Black and White and Dead All Over?

June 20, 2005 › Sandy McMurray | comment

Kodak has tossed in the fixer-stained towel. Come the end of the year, the pioneering photography company isn't going to make black and white photographic paper anymore.
That's a remarkable development from the company that really invented the snapshot. But, it's par for the course as far as technology goes. Black and white prints will now become something old school artists produce, not the medium of snap-happy amateurs with plastic trays, bamboo tongs and blower brushes.
The same thing happened to horses. Once they were beasts of burden, plow animals and common transportation. Now, they're the pampered pets of rich young girls, show riders and rodeos. They are niche animals, replaced in the mainstream by cars, trucks and SUVs.
Or, consider LPs since the onset of the compact disc. Now they're just for audiophiles and DJs.
I'm not going to mourn the passing of photographic paper. I've spend hundreds of hours in darkrooms over the years (even as, for a short time, a darkroom technician). I don't miss it a bit. If I want to smell like vinegar, I'll just buy fish 'n' chips. And, if I want a great print, I'll just use Photoshop. And, if I just want to pick a fight, I'll drop by the local photography guild, the members of which, I'm sure will be wearing black (and white) armbands on this mournful day.