End of an Era in Photography……

George Eastman, founder of Kodak, from Rochester, NY, built an empire in Rochester that was know as the “Yellow Box.” Well that box has been coming down in the past few years as the company goes through a major restructuring effort to survive in the world of digital photography.


Building 50 was built in 1918 and was located in Kodak Park; it is where the photographic paper was manufactured by Kodak. It was imploded on September 15, 2007 as hundreds of former employees looked on as building 50 dropped into photography history and became a pile of rubble. Before the restructuring, 212 building made up Kodak Park. Thirty buildings have already been removed and by the end of this year 104 buildings will be left standing.

Gone are the days of excitement and anticipation that were felt when you went to the local store and waited as the casher thumbed through the yellow packages to see if your developed film had returned from processing. While growing up in Rochester, it seemed like everyone worked at the Big Yellow Box. Indeed, my first camera was a Kodak (Instamatic 104) and my first digital camera was also a Kodak (DC210). That reminds me, what on earth will I ever do with my black & white darkroom equipment that has been stored in the attic for the past 20 years! It did serve it’s purpose. I pulled it out about 10 years ago, set in up, and demonstrated to my children what the magic of film developing in a darkroom is all about. There is just something about watching a photo appear before your eyes that truly amazing.

Kodak Instamatic 104

Kodak DC210

Personally I love digital photography. I tell people, digital photography has made taking photos fun again. You don’t have the costs associated with purchasing film, and development costs are less because the you're only developing (printing) the photos you really want to display. Also with digital photography the odds are much better that the photo you are trying to shoot we get captured, due to the ability of reviewing a photo right after you take it. A truly remarkable advancement in the way we take photos that even George Eastman would have been amazed at.

While we all understand things change, let’s take a moment, and go out with our children and shoot a roll of film while we still can in honor of George Eastman.

--Bear

Editor's Note: I think we all grew up with Kodak cameras. I used to shoot also with a Kodak Instamatic 126 film camera, and then I graduated to one that was even smaller and used 110 film. Unfortunately, Kodak bet heavily on disc film, and then the Advanced Photo System. Both had lower quality than 35 mm film, as well as higher prices for the cameras when introduced, so consumers didn't buy them in the droves expected. Add in competition from lower priced Fuji for 35 mm film, and they were definitely getting into trouble. On top of that, their digital cameras in the first few rounds were made for the instamatic crowd, and had few to little manual controls, so the more serious shutterbugs turned to other manufacturer's gear. I'm not at all surprised that Kodak is downsizing to this degree- it's been a long time in the making. --Jonas