COMMENTARY | Today, we are marking the passing of an American legacy known around the world. As of the 19th of January, 2012, the Kodak firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Rochester, New York legacy to pictures and film has come to a close.
We live in a world in which technology has accelerated the speed of convenience and instant gratification. The fewer hands a process needs to operate, the quicker it draws the popularity from similar services with more processes.
The Kodak camera was born from the advances in film done by George Eastman in 1878. Previously, the “wet plates” required the photographer to coat the photographic material, sensitize it, expose it, and develop it in an often portable darkroom in spans of about 15 minutes. Eastman’s dry gelatin plates could be exposed and developed at the photographer’s convenience, often with greater resolution.
In 1888, the Kodak Camera was the beginning of the “snapshot” camera. Their slogan “you press the button – we do the rest” was a hallmark of the company’s direction and expectations.
In the 1930’s, the Eastman name gave way to the camera that made the company, Kodak. The many evolutions of the camera, and the company’s sense of possibility, would ensure that the company stayed ahead of the curve as the go-to product for pictures and film.
Among the many advances and achievements of the more than century old company, at least 80 Oscar-winning “Best Pictures” have been shot on Kodak film. Kodak was the first company to produce a capture medium for x-rays in 1896. In 1928, under the company subsidiary “Recordak,” George Eastman, a former bank clerk, introduced the first microfilm system to simplify the handling of bank records. During World War II, this same microfilm process was used to manage the extensive amount of letters coming and going in the military. This process enabled a single mailbag to carry the same amount as 37 mailbags and was dubbed “Victory Mail” or “V-mail” for short.
When Kodak entered the copier market, they dramatically advanced it to include giving more speed and clarity to the copies. They entered the printing and publishing industry as well, adding their expertize to the industry. Today, 40 percent of all commercial publications still have the photo company’s presence.
It was also Kodak that captured the reaction of the first American to travel in orbit around Earth at 17,400 miles per hour. Kodak made it possible for the Mars Rover to see it’s way around the Martian soil.
The list goes on, but because of the new and digital world of today, the film that made and built the company is no longer needed and the principle of “you press the button – we do the rest” has left Kodak behind. The new digital industry is the future of photography and film. Kodak will not be forgotten though. Even now, many of your camera phones are supplemented with Kodak technology. It seems a little ironic indeed.
In final words, I think “a Kodak moment” is very much not what Kodak had. Eastman’s revolutionary company made us rethink the possible for more than a century and will have an impact and expectation felt well into the future for how we capture that perfect “Kodak moment.”