Steve McCurry: The Last Roll of Kodachrome

Istanbul Modern Photography Gallery presented the exhibition titled "The Last Roll of Kodachrome". Photos taken with the last roll of Kodachrome film by Steve McCurry, photographer for the Magnum Photography Agency and National Geographic magazine, were exhibited for the first time in the world.

With the constant development of technology and digital cameras becoming widespread, the production of the Kodachrome film, a favorite especially of photojournalists, was discontinued in 2009. The Kodachrome film, which was first produced in 1935 and considered an "icon" of imaging technology, has, in its 73-year history, been one of the films most preferred by photographers, amateur and professional alike. In 1973 famous artist Paul Simon wrote a song for the film which had become a legend at the end of the 1960s and in the 70s.

Steve McCurry, who states that since the beginning of his photographic career he took unforgettable shots with Kodachrome, asked Kodak to give him the last roll of Kodachrome film to come off the production line in Rochester, New York. The company accepted right away and thus Steve McCurry witnessed the closing of an era by taking pictures of people and cities in different countries using the last 36 exposures of this film which had been his mainstay for 30 years.

Beginning with famous actor Robert de Niro, the exhibition "The Last Roll of Kodachrome" included, among others, Indian actor, director, and producer Aamir Khan; Indian author and actress Shenaz; famous Indian actress and director Amithab Bachchan; director of Elizabeth Shekhar Kapur; Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt; "the Eye of Istanbul" Ara Güler; and also portraits from the Rabari tribe in Rajasthan. The exhibition also presented a National Geographic documentary about the shoot of this last roll and a slide show conveying Steve McCurry’s photographic adventure.

Curator: Engin Özendes