George Eastman: The Man Who Taught the World Photography

Probably, most of us today cannot imagine a vacation without a camera, which, as a rule, is always at hand. And do you know how long the world has been waiting for the appearance of this small, but extremely useful device? It turns out, more than one and a half hundred years – because the process of obtaining images (daguerreotype) was used for the first time almost back in 1837. From that moment on, photography made a huge leap forward. And a considerable role in its development was played by a 24-year-old American youth, then a junior clerk of the Savings Bank of Rochester, New York, George Eastman, and later the founder of the world-famous Kodak company.

George Eastman is a bank clerk who taught the world how to take pictures

Photo experiments in the kitchen

Eastman’s first invention, which started a great thorny path, was dry photographic plates for image development. It was 1874, and young George Eastman, who was working at the time, as mentioned above, as a junior clerk in one of the Rochester banks with a salary of $ 15 a week, decided to rest in Santo Domingo. One of the acquaintances, advising Eastman to take pictures of her vacation, pushed her to buy a camera. At that time, the leading technology in the field of photography was the use of wet glass plates. The camera itself was comparable in size to a modern microwave oven, and required a heavy tripod to mount it.

The first Kodak camera.

In addition, various chemicals, glass containers, a heavy holder for plates and a jug of water were added to the kit of the amateur photographer. In addition, it was necessary to carry around a tent for applying photoemulsion to plates before exposing, developing and drying the pictures.

Naturally, such a set costs a pretty penny, and the instruction on how to use this equipment costs $5. Eastman never went to Santo Domingo, instead he became seriously interested in the question: how to simplify the complex process of photography and make it more accessible. George learned from English magazines that photographers prepare photographic emulsion from gelatin. Using the recipe he read, he started preparing the substance in his kitchen. During the day he worked in a bank, and at night he conjured over photographic emulsion at the stove. After three years of experiments, Eastman succeeded in developing a new emulsion recipe, and in 1880 he invented dry photographic plates and a machine for their mass production.

Kodak Retina – the first camera using 35mm film – appeared in 1934

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Advertising genius

In addition to technical genius, George Eastman also had an advertising genius. He invented the slogan himself, which shocked the world. “You press the camera button and we do the rest.” Thin, short and clear. Ingenious! Later, George’s ideas were exploited by all the advertisers of the world, and some of the postulates that he invented are still alive today. If Eastman had not become the father of world photography, his name would be in the same row as the name of the great David Ogilvy.

His ideas came literally from nowhere. The Kodak brand itself also appeared. There are many explanations for this name. But, as our hero claimed, he simply made it up. “K” is my favorite letter of the alphabet. She seems strong and unforgettable to me. I had to try many combinations of letters before I came up with a word that starts and ends with the letter “K”. And the word “KODAK” is the result of my efforts.”