The 1976 Kodak Film Simulation Recipe began as an attempt to recreate the aesthetic of legendary photographer Joel Meyerowitz, an American New Color photographer first known for serendipitous street photos of New York City. Meyerowitz has had one of the most prolific careers of any photographer, and he’s still active today at 85 years old! His look has been one of the most requested to replicate on Fujifilm cameras, so I eagerly delved into what exactly that is and how to mimic it.

One of the first roadblocks I encountered is that Joel Meyerowitz doesn’t have one unique style. His aesthetics vary significantly through the years. That shouldn’t be surprising because he’s on his seventh decade of photography. It’s well known that Meyerowitz used a lot of Kodachrome—in fact, he shot with all three eras of the film. In his early days it was the original ISO 10 Kodachrome, but very quickly that was replaced by Kodachome II and X; a significant chunk of his iconic street photography was captured during this time. Then Kodachrome 25 and 64 came along. All of those emulsions, while very similar, had their unique characteristics. I have a number of Film Simulation Recipes that can produce a Meyerowitz look because they replicate a film that he frequently used, including Vintage Kodachrome, Kodachrome 1, Kodachrome II (here, too), Kodachrome 25 (here, too), and Kodachrome 64 (here and here, too).

While Meyerowitz was known for Kodachrome, many of his most famous photographs were not captured on that film. He used Ektachrome sometimes for his 35mm work, and he used it extensively for his 8×10 large format photography. There have been over 40 different emulsions that carried the Ektachrome brand name, so it’s hard to know which specific ones he used. Some Ektachrome Film Simulation Recipes are Old Ektachrome, Kodak Ektachrome 100SW, Kodak Ektachrome E100VS, Ektachrome E100GX, Ektachrome, Ektachrome 320T, and Thommy’s Ektachrome. Some of these can probably be used to replicate a Meyerowitz look, too.

He didn’t just shoot with Kodachrome and Ektachrome, but also Anscochrome sometimes. He might have used other emulsions, too, it’s not real clear. One thing is for sure: whichever film he used, the emulsion wasn’t the finished picture, the print was (or the replication of the print in a book). Today, film is often scanned, and that’s how we see the photos captured with it, but for much of Meyerowitz’s career, the print (and not the scan) was what we saw. The printing process—the chemicals, the paper, and a host of other factors—could significantly affect the end result. That process changed and evolved over the decades. All of this is to say that no one Film Simulation Recipe will ever be able to replicate all of Joel’s various aesthetics. Probably not even ten Recipes. Aside from the ones already mentioned, 1970’s Summer and especially Summer of 1960 are a couple that could potentially produce a Meyerowitz look.

I studied about fifty of Joel’s photographs, mostly from the 1970’s. Some of them were urban street pictures, some were suburban or small-town images, and others were coastal photos. I looked for commonalities between the various pictures. I paid close attention to the lighting. I focused in on about two dozen that seemed similar enough, and tried to replicate the look with my Fujifilm X-T5. This 1976 Kodak Film Simulation Recipe was my sixth iteration. It’s not perfect, because, even within those 20+ similar Meyerowitz photographs, there are still some subtle differences. Aside from that, Fujifilm’s options, which are much more robust than they used to be, are still limited, and you can only do so much. Still, sometimes the resemblance between some of Joel’s pictures and the images captured with this Recipe are remarkable!

This Film Simulation Recipe got its name because the majority of the pictures that it is based on were captured in 1976. Some were 35mm and likely Kodachrome 25 and Kodachrome 64, but could also be Ektachrome-X and/or Ektachrome Pro 64, or even Anscochrome 64. Some were large format and likely Ektachrome Pro 64, Ektachrome 6118 Tungsten, and/or Ektachrome 160 Daylight, or even possibly Aschochrome 32. 1976 was a pivotal and transitional year for Joel Meyerowitz, as he began to explore landscapes and small-town life, particularly along the Massachusetts coast. He also began shooting with a large format Deardorff view camera. Since this was such an important year in Meyerowitz’s photographic journey, since many of the pictures that this Recipe was modeled after were captured in 1976, and because the vast majority of his photos were shot on Kodak film, I call this Recipe 1976 Kodak.

The 1976 Kodak Film Simulation Recipe is quite versatile, and works well in many lighting situations and for many genres of photography. You might find it to be slightly overly warm in artificial light, but otherwise use it anytime. It’s compatible with Fujifilm X-Trans V cameras, which (as of this writing) are the X-T5, X-H2, X-H2s, and X-S20. Those with newer GFX cameras can use it, too, although it will likely render slightly different (use it anyway!). Try this Recipe with a vintage lens to further replicate a retro aesthetic.

Film Simulation: Nostalgic Neg.
Grain Effect: Strong, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome FX Blue: Off
White Balance: Auto, -2 Red & -4 Blue
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: +1.5
Shadow: +3
Color: +4
Sharpness: -2
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: -3
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +1 (typically)

Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this 1976 Kodak Film Simulation Recipe on my Fujifilm X-T5:

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Fujifilm X-T5 in black:  Amazon  B&H  Moment
Fujifilm X-T5 in silver:  Amazon  B&H  Moment

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