I’ve heard that line drying of laundry still takes place in Montreal, though it’s not as prevalent as in the 1980s. In Canada, the rules for line drying seem to vary from city to city, with condos probably never allowing it. In rural areas, nobody cares if you hang your clothes out to dry. If you look at the world in terms of a carbon footprint, it should be encouraged everywhere.
This photo was shot on Kodachrome 64 using a Konica T4 camera, with a 28mm lens.
This photo was taken on the Montreal metro in 1983. The colour red really comes alive with Kodachrome film.
In 1967 I visited Montreal with my family to attend Expo ’67. It gave me a love for Montreal that has remained for all these years. What an amazing city! And it looks so good on Kodachrome.
When taking photos I look for good light, and try to get an interesting moment, if possible. But there is also a matter of composition–how to divide the space. There are no hard and fast rules, but I often attempt to divide the frame into three or more sections. I first saw this in the photographs of Tony Ray-Jones and Lee Friedlander. There was a lot going on in the frame–a kind of unified complexity.
This photo was taken in Montreal in 1983. My friend Stephane is on the right and we were off to celebrate Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. I’m glad I got this Kodachrome moment.
© Avard Woolaver
A moment captured on Kodachrome. It was taken on a pedestrian walkover that crosses Lakeshore Boulevard and Gardiner Expressway. The warm light in the late afternoon was a perfect match for this reversal film that was known for its red/magenta cast.
I knew Paul Simon’s song Kodachrome before I got into photography, but didn’t know anything about the film itself. I would discover its magical qualities a few years later. Here is what Songfacts says about the song: “Paul Simon was working on a song with the title “Coming Home” when the word “Kodachrome” came to him. He had no idea what it meant, but knew it would make for a much more interesting song than “Coming Home.” The song became an appreciation of the things in life that color our world, and a look at how our memories are framed to fit our worldviews. Simon sometimes sings the line “Everything looks worse in black and white” as “Everything looks better in black and white.” He changes it a lot, and claims he can’t remember which way he wrote it.”
Kodachrome started in 1935 and effectively ended in 2010, when it was no longer possible to have it processed. Competition from Fujichrome and Ektachrome (which are easier to process) brought a decrease in sales, and the emergence of digital in 2000 signaled the end of the film. But once upon a time, Kodachrome roamed the earth–in cameras, camera bags, and pockets. It was with me when I traveled around Germany in 1978, Asia in 1989, and Europe in 1993. My faithful companion.