{"id":628,"date":"2009-07-09T20:34:56","date_gmt":"2009-07-10T00:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nearbycafe.com\/artandphoto\/photocritic\/?p=628"},"modified":"2009-07-09T20:34:56","modified_gmt":"2009-07-10T00:34:56","slug":"kodachrome-footnote-bye-bye-slide-projector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/artandphoto\/photocritic\/2009\/07\/09\/kodachrome-footnote-bye-bye-slide-projector\/","title":{"rendered":"Kodachrome Footnote: Bye-bye Slide Projector . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kodak

Kodak Carousel ad 1962<\/p><\/div>\n

. . . and good riddance.<\/p>\n

As a footnote to my Kodachrome post<\/a>, I should add that amidst all the outpouring of nostalgia for Kodachrome \u2014 which, I remind you, was a color-slide<\/em> film \u2014 I have never ever heard anyone express fond memories of its necessary corollary for everyday use, the Kodak Carousel slide projector.<\/p>\n

Prior to my engagement with the computer (which, for all its benefits, holds the frequency record as the technology at which I’ve screamed murderously), the most frustrating device required by my professional activity was the Kodak slide projector. Necessary in my line of work both for classroom teaching and for public lecturing, it haunted those situations with its ever-lurking unreliability: not just the occasional blown bulb and ensuing frantic hunt for a replacement, but the inevitable damaged slide tray or bent\/stuck slide and resultant distracting unjamming procedure, the malfunction of the controller with its usually too-short cord, and other wonders. Not to mention the periodic inadvertent upside-down or reversed image due to careless slide insertion. It never dependably just worked, and Kodak never figured out how to make it foolproof. Or quiet. The company discontinued production of the final model (which, like some of its predecessors, featured autofocus and other updates) in 2004, so its production run lasted about 43 years.<\/p>\n

\"Kodak

Kodak Carousel 600 instruction manual<\/p><\/div>\n

As if by magic, the slide projector seemed to bring out the archetypical Luddite in academics, even those who could operate radios, television sets, and cars with relative ease. It had the same effect on many photographers, presumably at ease with all kinds of devices. Despite the fact that the hand-held remote-control gizmo had a mere three buttons and barely changed its design in the thirty years I used it, unfailingly a scholarly lecturer or photographer would say “Now how does this thing work?” and then fumble with it, going forward instead of backward, decreasing instead of sharpening the focus, and otherwise messing with a mechanism that, while undependable, certainly wasn’t complex.<\/p>\n

\"Kodak

Kodak Carousel print ad, 1962<\/p><\/div>\n

The classic instance of this projector-related incomprehension among academics came for me during a 1982 Rosalind Krauss lecture at the\u00a0Society for\u00a0Photographic Education National Conference in Colorado Springs. Krauss put one of Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled Film Stills” images on the screen early into her talk and left it there for a good twenty minutes while she divagated. Every user’s manual advises you not to leave a single slide on the screen for prolonged periods of time, but Krauss surely had never bothered to read the instructions for this technology she used regularly in her line of work. She has much more important things to do, as we all know, what with all that important theory urgently demanding to get generated.<\/p>\n

Inevitably, the bulb generated heat in the small space between itself and the slide, warming the celluloid substrate that carries the image. The substrate swelled and buckled slightly, which popped the image out of focus. “Focus that,” Krauss would order. The conference-appointed intern serving as a tech for the lecture would jump up obediently and so so. Of course, a few minutes later it would happen again, and Krauss would repeat her command.<\/p>\n

Finally, clearly frustrated, and evidently ignorant of basic thermodynamics, Krauss snapped, “This is a roomful of photographers! Doesn’t anyone know how to focus?” At which point the emulsion on the Sherman on the screen started to melt. A lovely moment.<\/p>\n

\"Kodak

Kodak 4400 Carousel Slide Projector<\/p><\/div>\n

In any case, when I started using Microsoft Office I switched to PowerPoint for my slideshows, then moved to Apple’s Keynote. I’ve never missed the Carousel, nor looked back with an instant’s regret. No warm and fuzzy recollections here. Do I have company in my happy leave-taking? Does the slide projector have its advocates and defenders? If any reader wants to add to my deprecation, or to speak up for the slide projector (not just the Kodak variants, but some of the other species as well), or recount a memorable slide-projector experience, let ‘er rip.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, via YouTube, enjoy “Mad Men: The Carousel,”<\/a> a scene from the 2007 season of the AMC series Mad Men<\/a> (produced by Matthew Weiner)\u00a0in which master Madison Avenue huckster Donald Draper uses a prototype of the then-new device to pitch Kodak on an ad campaign for its 1962 debut of the original Carousel, even giving it that name as part of the proposed campaign. You can also view an image-by-image version of his slideshow<\/a>, captioned with the lines from his pitch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The classic instance of this projector-related incomprehension among academics came for me during a 1982 Rosalind Krauss lecture at the Society for Photographic Education National Conference in Colorado Springs. Krauss put one of Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled Film Stills” images on the screen and left it there for a good twenty minutes. Inevitably, the bulb generated heat in the small space between itself and the slide, warming the celluloid substrate that carries the image. The substrate swelled and buckled slightly, which popped the image out of focus. “Focus that,” Krauss would order. Finally, clearly frustrated, and evidently ignorant of basic thermodynamics, Krauss snapped, “This is a roomful of photographers! Doesn’t anyone know how to focus?” At which point the emulsion on the Sherman on the screen started to melt. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[48,279,282,346,461,480],"class_list":["post-628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-apple-keynote","tag-kodachrome","tag-kodak-carousel","tag-microsoft-powerpoint","tag-rosalind-krauss","tag-slide-projector","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/artandphoto\/photocritic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/artandphoto\/photocritic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/artandphoto\/photocritic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/artandphoto\/photocritic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/artandphoto\/photocritic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/artandphoto\/photocritic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/artandphoto\/photocritic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/artandphoto\/photocritic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/artandphoto\/photocritic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}