Implosions of buildings 65 and 69, Kodak Park, Rochester, New York [#1] October 6, 2007

In his new book, Disappearance of Darkness: Photography at the End of the Analog Age, photographer Robert Burley documents the industrial-scale infrastructure that, for nearly 100 years, supported film photography. For the project, Robert was granted access to shuddered film factories to photograph the massive machines and interior spaces where thousands of workers once made film in total darkness.  He visited Dwayne’s photo lab in Kansas: the last photo lab in the world to process Kodak’s iconic Kodachrome film. And, for the most dramatic pictures in the book, Robert photographed the demolitions of film manufacturing buildings at Kodak’s headquarters in Rochester, New York.

For Robert, Disappearance of Darkness is not simply a project about the collapse of an industry. It’s also a personal project about loss: the loss of the medium he has used to make a living for most of his life. For this reason, Robert decided to shoot all the pictures for his book on film, using a large format view camera.

Last week, I spoke with Robert Burley about his new book, teaching photography to digital natives, and how digital images have changed our relationship to photography.

Robert Burley will be speaking about Disappearance of Darkness this Wednesday, April 3rd, at the New York Public Library.

Implosions of Buildings 65 and 69, Kodak Park, Rochester, New York [#2], 2007  Dwayne’s Photo Lab, Parsons, Kansas December 30, 2010 View of Kodak Head Offices From the Smith Street Bridge, Rochester, NY 2008 Film warehouse, AGFA-Gevaert, Mortsel, Belgium [#1], 2007  Film Coating Facility, Agfa-Gevaert, Mortsel Belgium, #1 2007

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