in 1839 the first commercial camera was released at the time the process of taking a photo was too
difficult even after 40 years during the 1880s the situation didn't change a lot of accessories were
needed for photography the camera itself was as big as a microwave oven the use of chemicals in
the process made photography impossible for ordinary people a 24 year old bank employee
named george eastman wanted to bring some change he decided to research on how he could simplify
the camera even though he was a school dropout who had never studied chemistry after struggling for
almost a decade inventing a new method building a company almost losing the company finally in 1888
he succeeded at creating a camera so simple that it changed the whole photography industry
have you ever looked at old photographs from the 19th century and thought why do the people
in the pictures look so serious none of them are smiling and they kinda look uncomfortable
at the time smiling in front of the camera was considered foolish besides early cameras came with
a long exposure time it could be from 5 seconds to a few minutes depending on the lighting conditions
keeping the same facial expression for so long was really uncomfortable sometimes the
photographer used a head stand so that the model could stay still a little change in the facial
expression could ruin the whole photo so it was preferred to be serious or expressionless while
posing in front of the camera photography was difficult at that time not only for the
person in front of the camera but also for the person behind the camera early photographers
had to form a light sensitive emulsion by pouring layers of chemicals on a glass plate
the whole process had to be done in a dark room as light would ruin the light sensitive surface the
glass plates had to be exposed inside the camera while it was still wet that's why the process was
called the wet collodion process the photographers got only 15 minutes before the plate dried out so
it wasn't possible to travel far with a prepared glass plate and they had to come back to a dark
room in order to prepare another plate despite all the difficulties early photographers traveled far
with their tents and collected photographs from around the world during the 1880s a bank employee
named george eastman realized photography was too difficult ordinary people who didn't have
any knowledge about chemicals couldn't even think of buying a camera and start taking pictures
besides the accessories needed for photography were too expensive overall it was only limited
to professional photographers eastman wanted to bring some change he decided to research on how he
could make photography easier even though he was a school dropout who had never studied chemistry
george eastman was born on 12 july 1854 in waterville new york his father owned a small
business school in rochester new york when george was five-year-old his family moved to rochester
at the age of eight george was studying in a private school when his father passed away due
to some brain disease his mother found out that george's father had left no money for them she
started taking care of borders in order to support the family it was difficult for her to support the
family and continue eastman's education at the same time at the age of 14 eastman dropped out of
school to support his family he started working in insurance companies as messenger and office
boy he was also studying accounting at home so that he could qualify for higher salary jobs
at the age of 24 he was working as a bookkeeper in a bank when he became interested in photography he
was planning a trip to santo domingo and decided to document the whole trip but he didn't have any
equipment for photography he bought the equipment and couldn't figure out what to do with them
he had to pay five dollars to a local photographer who taught him how to use the camera
for some reason the trip could never happen but eastman grew a passion for photography
eastman didn't like the wet process it is said that during one trip the chemicals used in the
process ruined his clothes after the incident he became determined to find an alternative process
he found a formula for dry plate emulsion published in a british publication
using the formula he started experimenting with dry plates
during the day he worked at the bank and experimented in his mother's kitchen at night
at some nights he used to be so tired that his mother found him sleeping on the floor
after three years of experimenting he finally succeeded in formulating a dry plate emulsion
soon he leaves the third floor of a building in rochester and started manufacturing dry plates
seeing the potential of the dry plates businessman henry alva strong showed interest in investing in
his business on january 1 1881 eastman partnered with henry alva strong and founded the eastman
dry plate company later that year he left his job at the bank to devote all his time to the company
while actively managing all the affairs of the company eastman continued his research he wanted
to make the camera in his words as convenient as a pencil eastman's next approach was to replace
the glass plates glass was heavy to carry around and they could easily break he wanted to coat the
chemicals on paper to create an emulsion on it but being a school dropout and a self-taught chemist
he didn't have the knowledge needed for further research so he hired a young chemist named henry
reikenberg who helped him to invent the paper film eastman then loaded the film into a roll holder
the roll holder could fit inside all the cameras on the market with the roll film the photographers
didn't have to change the glass plate after every exposure they could just roll to the next film
eastman thought the role holder will finally bring the commercial success to his company
he wrote to his mother now you don't have to take care of borders anymore the roll
holder was praised by the critics it got a lot of awards but most professional photographers didn't
buy the paper film because of the image quality produced by it it couldn't meet the standards
of dry played cameras the royal film didn't bring the commercial success eastman expected
while he concentrated on the paper film and the role holder other companies came up with better
dry plates the eastman company was on the verge of an end suddenly eastman got an amazing idea
he thought if he could create a camera for the ordinary people they would not care so much about
the image quality they just needed a simple camera which could be used without learning
the complicated process behind it in 1888 eastman released the first kodak camera it was a simple
box camera with the fixed lens and a spatial shutter that could take pictures in a fraction
of a second it had enough film loaded inside for 100 exposures the camera was priced at 25
after the films were done the whole camera had to be sent back to the kodak company where the
photographs were printed and the camera was loaded with more films for an additional 10
all you needed to do to click a picture was to press the button this became the tagline for
kodak you press the button we do the rest at first no one could believe it early users of the kodak
camera didn't even realize if their pictures were actually being taken but once the pictures came
back from the company they were stunned suddenly you didn't need to be skilled at the complicated
chemical process to be a photographer whether you're inside your house or outside having fun
at the beach or spending a great time with your family that is oath remembering later
you could just take out your kodak camera and press the button another secret behind the
success of kodak was the name of it eastman came up with the name himself he believed the name of
a product has to be simple which can be remembered easily it must not have a meaning or association
with another product the name kodak became so popular that any moment that was oath taking a
picture was called a kodak moment finally eastman got the success he was waiting for he successfully
started an era of immature photography by 1994 the quality of the kodak film improved so much
that even professional photographers started using them and the new industry began because of
photographic film the motion picture industry in 1900 eastman introduced another camera the brownie
it was a cheaper version of the kodak which cost only one dollar it was aimed at a new group of
customers children eastman thought if a generation of children get introduced to photography through
these cheaper cameras they will also buy expensive cameras after growing up soon the company's
profits soared and eastman was listed as the sixth richest man of the country eastman never married
and donated a lot of money for the betterment of the society he was a major philanthropist of his
time establishing two music schools and schools of dentistry with interest in improving health he
provided funds for clinics in london and other european cities to serve low-income residents
he made major donations for a lot of universities including mit during the last two years of his
life he was in intense pain due to a disorder affecting his spine on march 14 1932 eastman
shot himself in the heart leaving a note to his closest friends my work is done why wait you