[Image via Glen Friedman]

As usual, this news likely has little significance to any of our reeders, but Kodak’s announcement that it will discontinue production of Kodachrome film hit us pretty hard.

Eastman Kodak Company announced on June 22, 2009 that it will discontinue sales of KODACHROME Color Film this year, concluding its 74-year run as a photography icon. Sales of KODACHROME, which became the world’s first commercially successful color film in 1935, have declined dramatically in recent years as photographers turned to other films or digital capture. Today, KODACHROME represents just a fraction of one percent of Kodak’s total sales of still-picture films.
…KODACHROME has very distinct characteristics and no film will give the exact same results…

[via Kodak]

Being artsy, sentimental hipsters, we are to sad to see the end of a medium that produced so many memorable images. Assuming you are over the age of 14 and consume less than two energy drinks a day, you may recall that legendary photographer Glen E. Friedman used Kodachrome to capture skateboarding’s Dogtown era as well as the early stages of the punk rock and hip-hop subculture. Friedman comments on his blog,

As far as quality products that mean something to me this one ranks above all else, even Apple. This is like loosing your favorite paint brush or camera lens or guitar, forever.

[via Idealist Propaganda]

[Image via Glen Friedman]

For more of Friedman’s work using Kodachrome, check out Fuck You Heroes, Fuck You Too, The Idealist, or DogTown - The Legend of the Z-Boys.

Though Kodak claims the reason for pulling the plug to be financial, we know that it is snowboarding’s fault. The appalling and ludicrous design trends of snowboarding (i.e. tall tees, tight pants, goggle sag, neon pants, etc.) have single-handedly erased society’s appreciation of aesthetic quality. Hooray!

[Image via Doobybrain]