Back in 1967, Karl Ferris, who I hereby dub "The Godfather of Color Infrared", made the seminal color infrared image for the debut release of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Ferris went on to do fabulous work with Donovan with songs like "Wear Your Love Like Heaven". In the 1970's, Elliott Landy made infrared portraits of Bob Dylan, The Band, Johnny Lee Hooker, Van Morrison and more. Marcus Keef's brilliant infrared work for Vertigo Records produced some of the most iconic LP covers ever. Covers like Black Sabbath 1 and Paranoid. By the mid 1970's though, the use of color infrared film was rare. Kodak continued to produce it as EIR in 135 format straight through to the millennium, but no one really cared. By the 1980's, it was ignored completely except for a very few enthusiasts and by 1995 it was all but extinct. Kodak finally discontinued the film due to lack of sales. That was the end of all color infrared film.

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It wasn't until 2006 that the Aerochrome story began. I was trying to find something special for an artist friend that I wanted to photograph. I was barely a photographer at the time and basically knew nothing. It was my wife who suggested I try Kodak EIR 35mm. When I went to buy some, it was nowhere to be found. It was during my search  that I stumbled upon Aerochrome which incidentally is not Kodak EIR. The first batch came to me through an aerospace contact in Germany. ​

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The first 3 years of the project went badly. I sat on 5000 rolls for a long time. Just about every photo forum in existance banned me for spamming. I ended up giving the first few hundred rolls away for free. I knew someone was bound to take great photos. It was now 2010 and still no one was interested. I guessed it was mostly because of my high price of $26/roll. Everyone was complaining. 

​So now my goal was to take good photos myself that showcase this amazing film. I was not a photographer, but from the very first roll, I had results. Here is an image from that first Aerochrome roll.

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From that point, I had sold about 80,000 units wolrdwide. The film gained mainstream popularity in 2013 when Richard Mosse made a big splash with his epic work in Congo. I am proud to have been a part of that, supplying the film and giving a ton of technical advice, especially with the 16mm. Aerochrome was never meant to be used as motion picture film and my test reels the year prior gave us everything we needed to know for the Mosse project. exposures, filters, lenses, camere tweeks and most of all, those critical elements that can prevent exposure without error. clips here. 

https://www.youtube.com/@aerochrome_source

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From 2007 to present, I have personally hand cut and rolled every 120 roll out there, adding up to well over 150,000 rolls. There have also been many 10,000's in 35mm and tons of film sheets from 2x2, 4x5, 8x10 to 8x20 inch and beyond. Then there was that huge crate of 16mm. 

 

After more than 17 years, the project is still gaining momentum. The film that nobody wanted! I am doing everything I can to keep it going and I still cut film on occasion, but of course the future is grim. Obviously Kodak won't bring it back for various and assorted reasons. But at least there are still thousands of photos out there yet to be taken. Most of my scans are nearly 1:1 with the original slides. I encourage you to try and do all your work inside the camera. That is the fun and the wonder of this kind of photography. Analog infrared photography is painting with materials and invisible light. 

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Dean Bennici 2024

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hopefully history will remember me as the guy that brought aerochrome to the world. That's not a lot to ask.