It was a photographic breakthrough that helped capture some of the 20th century’s most iconic images.
But Kodachrome, the first commercially successful colour film, became history itself after it was developed for the last time in November 2013.
Dwayne’s Photo, a family-run business in Parsons, Kansas, was the last place in the world where the 75-year-old Kodak product could be developed.
The die was cast after Kodak announced in June last year that it would stop making the chemicals needed to develop Kodachrome in a round of cost-cutting after the company reported a £84million loss.
But it pledged to supply Dwayne’s Photo in Kansas with the chemicals until the end of 2010.
Kodachrome, the first commercially successful colour film, became history itself after it was developed for the last time in November 2013 (file photo)
The shop’s machine was shut down for the last time but only after fans of the film had travelled there from cross the world to get theirs developed.
British artist Aliceson Carter, 42, travelled from London to get her rolls developed, while a railway worker from Arkansas spent $15,798 (£10,198) developing 1,580 rolls of film of pictures of trains.
Veteran photographer Steve McCurry, best known for his 1985 portrait of an Afghan girl that made the cover of National Geographic Magazine, had a roll of film shot in New York City and India developed.
Before running out of chemicals, Dwayne’s Photos was still processing 700 rolls of film a day.
Its employees took to wearing T-shirts with the epitaph: ‘The best slide and movie film in history is now officially retired. Kodachrome: 1935 – 2010’.
The last roll to be processed was an image taken by Dwayne Steinle, the shop’s owner.
Grant Steinle, who manages Dwayne’s Photo, previously said: ‘The real difference between Kodachrome and all the other colour films is that the dyes that make up the image you see in the film, in Kodachrome, don’t get incorporated into the film until it is actually developed.
‘It’s a really sad day, it was an important part of our business and Kodachrome was an important part of the history of all of photography.
‘Lots of really iconic images of the 20th century were captured on Kodachrome.’
Although it had become iconic, Kodak took the decision to stop production.
A spokesman said at the time: ‘For all its magic, Kodachrome is a complex film to manufacture and an even more complex film to process.’