From the Kodak Camera to Kodachrome
The Birth of 35mm Photography
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History of Photography Part III - From Calotype Prints to Eastman Dry Plates In 1880, having already developed a machine to mass produce gelatin coated dry plates George Eastman began the Eastman Dry Plate Company. He was only twenty four years old and yet this young entrepreneur with his young company was poised to make change that would affect the entire world on all levels of society. George Eastman was a self made business man. He effectively invented the personal handheld camera - quite literally putting the power of photography into the hands of the masses. He was also responsible, in 1884, for combining two earlier inventions - celluloid and the gelatin dry plate process - to produce the first flexible roll of film negatives. Eastman's first Kodak camera, released in 1888, came with a 20 foot roll of photo paper and could record 100 images. The camera cost $25 plus an additional $10 to develop the film at Eastman's Rochester, New York office. For the first time ever a camera became affordable enough that just about anyone could purchase one. Only a year later Eastman released a new version of his camera which contained a roll of true celluloid film. This kicked open the doors for public innovation into the art of photography.
In 1900 Eastman's company - by now renamed Eastman-Kodak - introduced its trademark camera: the Kodak Brownie. Backed by the catchy slogan "You press the Button, We do the Rest", Brownies saw explosive growth into the new market of home and hobby photographers. The Brownie line of cameras would enjoy popularity and many different editions lasting well into the 1960s. Eastman himself continued his work in the field of photography. Apparently he felt that he brought the art and the industry as far as he could for, in 1932, he committed suicide by gunshot at the age of 77. He left a cryptic suicide note which read "My work is done. Why wait?"
While George Eastman was busy popularizing home photography other developments in the field were being made. The trichromatic process for separating light and creating color images developed by James Clerk-Maxwell had not been forgotten. In 1907 two French brothers - Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas and Louis Jean Lumiere - introduced the first commercial method for capturing color photographs. The so called Autochrome process involved the application of fine grains of potato starch - died red, green and blue - to a plate of glass backed with a photo emulsion. The potato grains were so fine that, after applying immense pressure to flatten the grains to the plate, a resolution of about 4 million grains could be achieved per square inch of the plate. Light passing through the grains of potato would be filtered - much like the sensors of today's digital cameras - and expose the photo emulsion on the glass. Once this was processed the plate would show a colored image when backlit.
While black and white photography with small, portable cameras was already possible Autochrome was to be the only possible way to make color photographs until the 1930s. This expensive process was reserved for the elite who could afford the materials, tools and equipment necessary. Nevertheless it enjoyed immense popularity and it is to our great benefit today that photographers such as Albert Kahn traveled the world capturing many different events in color. Photographers traveled the world shooting exotic and remote locations recorded a world that no longer exists. Many Autochrome slides were also taken during World War I recording another monumental even in human history. As Autochrome opened the world's eyes to color photos yet another massive change was brewing. Experiments with high speed photography and motion pictures had led to the use of celluloid film for cinematographic uses. Out of the world of the film camera came a new size of film: 35mm.
35mm film had been used for almost 20 years in the field of motion picture imaging but in 1914 the head of development for Leitz, a man named Oscar Barnack, introduced the first photography camera which used the 35mm sprocketed film. Just ten years down the road Leitz began selling a commercial 35mm camera based off of Barnacks design. This camera was the first professional quality 35mm camera and was know as the Leica. This new type of photography was made even easier in 1936 when the modern standard 135 film canister was introduced and loading film became quick and easy for anyone to do. By 1936 the spotlight was back on Eastman-Kodak with the introduction of Kodachrome - the first multi layered color film negatives. This signaled the end of an era for Autochrome and the beginning of a new era for the worlds photographers. Color film would spread round the world and be used to preserve countless events throughout the 20th century. Kodachrome would remain the standard film stock for professionals everywhere until finally being discontinued in 2009. |
