The Kodak City / Hors Champ by Catherine Leutenegger (June 6, 2010) 
(19 votes, average: 3.79 out of 5)
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Introduction by Nathalie Herschdorfer
Making images is not only a matter of photographers but also depends on laboratories. Digital technology has brought changes. Catherine Leutenegger’s work implicitly raises questions such as : do photographers’ studios have a future? What will remain tomorrow of accessories and scenery? What is left of the darkroom? Will the producers of papers, films, chemicals disappear? Leutenegger has taken her camera backstage in the theatre of professional photography, training it on studios, workshops, darkrooms and laboratories. With her work, she pays tribute to the medium and its history. Her two series could even appear like a memento mori. Nathalie Herschdorfer is curator of the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland, click logo in sidebar to visit the museum’s website.
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Our poll "A photo essay always needs a great written story" closed. 267 people voted, 28% agrees, 72% disagrees. 233 people answered our follow-up question "Are you a photographer?" 82% indicated they are, 18% said no. Initially, negative answers to question #1 were almost 100% as was the pecentage of photographers among respondants. Then, when the level of non-photographers started to rise, the percentage of people indicating good text is always essential started to rise too. This seems to indicate that non-photographers think that adding good text to your photo essays is essential. In my opinion: if you want non-photographers to dig your work, you know what to do...
The Kodak City The last decade was marked by an explosion of digital camera sales and a sharp drop in the sales of film, prints and film processing to professionals as well as the general public. This decrease in the traditional photography business led to the closing or restructuring of many photo-processing labs. The most striking example of that is the giant Kodak: the biggest manufacturer of film worldwide. In an effort to reduce costs, Kodak accompanied its shift toward digital products with an important series of layoffs and facilities closures worldwide. In the way to understand better the consequences of such a singular mutation, I decided to visit and document the headquarters of the Eastman Kodak Company located in Rochester, USA.
Hors-Champ (”Off-camera”) is an invitation to discover a place that often remains unknown: the place where photographs are made—workshops and studios, darkrooms, development and print labs. The work behind the illusion so meticulously crafted by photographers in their studios is rarely revealed. The realization of this project arises from a personal desire to explore, behind-the-scenes, the world of professionals in the photography field in my region, at a point in time when, obviously, photography is undergoing a deep change both in technical and aesthetic aspects. What will become of studios and traditional photo labs? Off-camera is an homage to photography, its history and to the creators of images, and encourages the viewer to reflect on the future of this medium of communication.
My approach to photography is to question its future and to keep in memory its past. It is photography on photography.
Catherine Leutenegger (1983) lives and works in Lausanne, Switzerland / New York City, USA.
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