A little while ago I asked a whole bunch of photographers to share their thoughts about the whole Kodak fiasco:

PETER BAKER: It is pretty sad to see the company that essentially created the industry that we’re all obsessed with struggle to adapt to the changes in that industry. There’s no reason that Kodak shouldn’t have been able to take it’s imaging expertise – or moreover it’s brand recognition – and been the major provider of digital sensors to other camera makers. Something akin to “Kodak Inside” a la Intel.

There is a seriously romantic component involved in this though. Kodak isn’t just another company that we buy products from. Kodak, in a very real way, is responsible for many of our favorite memories, and nobody wants to see them go away.

YAAKOV ISRAEL: I’m always hoping that somebody will take over the film manufacturing at least but its very sad that this part of the American history of photography won’t be around any more!

As it is the prices of film & paper are rocket high and I find myself thinking that its nearly unethical to ask my students to buy printing paper.

But I’m a big believer in the discipline you develop when using film as you are always on a budget so you think well before you press the shutter.

PHILLIP TOLEDANO: To be honest, I haven’t really thought about it at all … I’m strangely unattached to technology. Whatever Kodak did, will be replaced by something else and in a few years we’ll know it as an interesting photoshop filter …

RYAN PFLUGER: It’s just one of those things you would never think about. It’s like there being no more oil paints or colored pencils. It just seems so bizarre. But we will have to wait and see what happens.

I guess there is always Fuji …… gross

DAVID WRIGHT: It is a very sad day to see Kodak go by the wayside.

GEORDIE WOOD: Kodak is tragic for sure man. It’s too bad they weren’t the lightest on their toes but I guess you get slow after being such a powerhouse for decades. I hope the film won’t disappear but I’m sure it will live on in some capacity.

I’ve spent a bunch of time in Central New York between college and shooting. Whether it’s the Erie Canal, Carrier or Kodak the families of CNY have seen industry come and go for the last century. I think about all the middle class families in Rochester who made their living with Kodak and who are now left behind once again.

NOAH KALINA: It’s unfortunate but not totally surprising. What is shocking is that they were the ones who invented digital. how were they not able to transform their business and move it towards digital?

AARON WOJACK: Perhaps it is just the end of an era. It chills my spine to think that the day may actually come where you will not be able to buy commercial film. I suppose it is inevitable, but I don’t want to see it happen. 

On the other hand it reminds me that the state of the photo industry is in flux and that we all need to be innovative and creative or we won’t make it. This shouldn’t be news to anyone. Things like this a are very persuasive inspiration to get your game plan sorted. 

ALEXANDER MCLUCKIE: In all honesty mate I came to terms with it when they discontinued Kodachrome. I don’t think I’ve shot a single roll of Kodak since they stopped it.

ERIC WILLIAM CARROLL: To me, Kodak is in the same position that American auto-makers were in a few years back, albeit without the support of a government bailout. Kodak had such a strong brand to help it’s business, but they totally dropped the ball when it came to evolving with photography on a basic consumer level-Kodak should’ve been Flickr, they should’ve been Instagram, they should’ve been Snapfish. All of these chances were squandered and instead Kodak spent years making sub-par digital cameras and printers when they should’ve been re-thinking photography from the ground-up. Sure, I’ll miss my Tri-x if they go under, but hopefully they’ll use bankruptcy as a chance to get some fresh blood and new ideas into their corporate offices and reinvent Kodak’s purpose and practice. The old Kodak moment has come and gone-it’s time for them to realize that and create a new contemporary one.

EMILIANO GRANADO: I guess I’ll have to buy Fuji.

Aren’t we all secretly preparing for an all digital world? How much longer can film really exist? 10 years? In a way though, my abrupt sarcasm is telling of how I experience film and photography in general. The subtleties don’t matter. Kodak is richer, warmer. Fuji is cooler. Whatever. I don’t care. I can print it differently. The EXPERIENCE and my INTENTION are all that matter. I’m a photographer cuz I love to photograph. Fuck the technique and the color cast and the digi vs film and all that shit.

With that said, I prefer the experience of slower, bigger, and bulkier cameras. but WHATEVER.

JAKE STANGEL: I’ll be drinking alot more …

DAREK FORTAS: Cannot imagine not shooting 6x7 or 4x5 in the future … heard some gossip of medium format rolls going up 100%; it scares shit out me …

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Thanks so much to everyone who took time out to share with MULL IT OVER.

JONATHAN CHERRY: What did you have for breakfast this morning?

PETER BAKER: A bowl of blackberries and pineapple, and a lot of coffee.

JC: Can you name 2 emerging photographers inspiring you at the moment?

PB: Emerging is tough; if I know of them, they must’ve already emerged. But I’m really digging Jake Stangel and Dalton Rooney lately, for somewhat opposing reasons. Stangel for his prolific output and hustle on many projects, and Rooney for his deliberate slowness and rigid editing on just a couple long term ones. Both make beautiful photos.

JC: Over the years you must have seen Michigan change. What is the current low down and are you excited about its future?

PB: I’ve long felt that Detroit is to Michigan as Michigan is to America. We saw the removal of the manufacturing industry here first, years ago, and it’s now being seen everywhere else. We’re the canary in America’s coal mine. So while it’s easy for people to dismiss it as a Detroit problem, or a Michigan problem, it just happened here first.

But I am also generally excited about the future here. The people that have stuck around are the kind of die-hards that make things happen. And Detroit is becoming cool and bohemian again in ways a lot of people are looking for.

Besides, the best parts of the state, the lakes and beaches and peninsulas and forests and dunes, they don’t care about any of this. As long as they’re still here, I’m happy. Though, I’d kill for a decent rail system.

JC: What is your current work about?

PB: I have a project about boom towns that have become somewhat unsustainable cities that I’m still working on, primarily in Las Vegas and Reno, but I’d like to include Phoenix and some of the other sprawling desert cities. There’s also a sprawling Great Lakes-centric project that I’m still searching for the thread in.

JC: Any interesting stories from the road whilst photographing?

PB: A guy in Slab City, the RV/tent city in Southern California, showed me a few dozen books of paintings he’d been doing. He was planning on selling the whole lot on Ebay for $100,000,000, and would drop the price $1,000,000 a day, figuring by the time they got to $5,000,000, they’d be such a steal that *someone* would have to buy them. I bought one for $20.

JC: Sea or river?

PB: Lake!

JC: What is next?

PB: I’m hoping to start a new project in Detroit this spring that will NOT be ruin porn. And there’re some ghost cities in China that I’m currently obsessing over. Who knows.

JC: Any pearls of wisdom to recent photography graduates?

PB: Be nice to everybody, it doesn’t matter how good you are if nobody wants to work with you. And shoot film if you can, but don’t sweat it if you can’t.

JC: Favourite 2 websites at the moment?

PB: Atlas Obscura and If We Don’t, Remember Me.

JC: Other thoughts?

PB: Tons.