London Retro – Ektachrome Snapshots from the 1960s

Ritz Hotel, Piccadilly, 1970

In 1962 when the first of these photos were taken the photographer was just 13 and took photos using a Halina PET camera and Ektachrome film. He lived in Byfleet, 20 miles from the centre of London and rom 1971 to 1987  made frequent journeys by train to London.

Regent St looking north, 1967

Lion and Bus Stop, Westminster Bridge, 1967

County Hall, 1968

Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, 1967

Parliament Square, 1967

Nelson’s Column, Trafalgar Square, 1967

View from Hyde Park to Hilton Hotel, 1967 Through the cafe looking down the Serpentine….

Restaurant in Hyde Park, 1967 – designed by Patrick Gwynne and demolished in 1990

Kings Weighhouse Church, Duke Street, 1967

St.George’s, Hanover Square,1967

Victoria Embankment from Westminster Bridge,1962

Bond St looking north, 1967

Tate Gallery, 1966

British Museum, Bloomsbury, 1966

River Thames from Westminster Bridge,1966

New Scotland Yard and Embankment, 1966

Trafalgar Square. St Martin-in-the-Fields, 1965

London

Piccadilly Circus, North side, 1962

London

Piccadilly Circus at night, 1962

London

Piccadilly Circus,West side, 1962

Big Ben across Westminster Bridge, 1962

Ektachrome film was initially developed in the early 1940s and it enabled professional and amateur photographers to process their own colour films. Kodachrome had always been too complicated for amateurs and even smaller photographic laboratories to cope with. The characteristic appearance of Ektachrome became familiar to National Geographic readers who used the film for their colour photographs for decades. The traditional Kodachrome was too slow for many uses.

All Ektachrome products were discontinued in 2013 but as of September 2018 Kodak announced that they have made Ektachrome available again.

Ektachrome ad c.1960

Photos used with permission and available at  Koenigsmark : London Retro on Flickr.

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