Untitled

In 2012, Kodak discontinued Ektachrome, the last of its noted slide films. Since then, I have stockpiled and shot Ektachrome almost exclusively, racing against the 2013 and 2014 expiration dates printed on the last of Kodak's batches. The five portraits included in this submission were all shot on medium format Ektachrome, four on the South and West Sides of Chicago, one in Detroit. Ektachrome works best in broad daylight, and so my subjects are found on the streets where I work and live. (There's a friend or two here, too.) Teju Cole reminds us that "cameras and mechanical tools of photography have rarely made it easy to photograph black skin." But Ektachrome, on the contrary, is well suited to the wide gradations of what is actually brown. Early this year, Kodak happily announced the return of Ektachrome in 35mm but not medium format. My personal supply of medium format Ektachrome, I like to think, constitutes one of the world's largest. Currently I am at haste to shoot it before it degrades any further. Recognition from this contest will hopefully support me in doing so--in bringing recognition to the beauty of my community.