Art Section IV: George Eastman on board the S.S. Gallia

Who were high-quality souvenir images marketed to for most of the modern period?

Elite consumers

What inventions changed souvenir images?

Photography and small, portable cameras that used pre-rolled cameras

When was photography invented?

Late 1830s

When were portable cameras with pre-rolled film first marketed?

1888

What company marketed portable cameras?

Kodak

Who was the founder of the Kodak Company?

George Eastman

Which of Eastman's innovations was the most impactful for travelers?

The Kodak "hand camera"

What was the hand camera known as?

No. 1

What title did the Eastman Museum give to Frederick F. Church's photograph?

George Eastman on board the S.S. Gallia

What does Church's photo show?

Eastman on his way to Europe holding the small Kodak camera he developed

How did the Kodak company shape the 20th and 21st century media landscape?

It turned photographic images into easy-to-access commodities

When did the first widely used photographic process emerge?

1839

Who developed the first widely used photographic process?

French and English inventors

What were daguerreotypes?

Small, single images on metal

What was required to make daguerreotypes?

Specialty chemicals

What environment was the best for making daguerreotypes?

An enclosed lab-like environment

Why was the process of making daguerreotypes not portable?

The wooden cameras were large and heavy and the materials were hard to transport

What was a material used to make daguerreotypes?

Mercury

What was the most common genre of daguerreotype photos?

Portraits

What were some other early photography methods?

Salted paper print and wet plate collodion process

How did the salted paper print process work?

Paper negatives were soaked in salt water and silver halides

How did the wet plate collodion process work?

A tarlike substance was smeared onto a glass plate to produce a negative

What made these photographic processes not very convenient?

They required an elementary knowledge of chemistry and were time-consuming to set up

What was required to make wet plate collodion photos?

Negatives had to be developed right after exposure

How long did it take to make photos using the wet plate collodion process?

20 minutes

What was another thing to be careful about when making wet plate collodion photos?

The plate glass negatives were fragile and had to be protected

What did Maxime du Camp do?

Produced the first photographic record of the remains of ancient Egyptian civilization

Who did du Camp accompany on his journey through Egypt and the Middle East?

Gustave Flaubert

When did du Camp and Flaubert travel together?

1849

What photographic method did du Camp use?

Salted paper printing

What book did du Camp create?

Egypte, Nubie, Palestine et Syrie (1852)

What artists used the wet plate collodion negative process?

Timothy H. O'Sullivan and Carleton Watkins

What were O'Sullivan and Watkins hired to do?

Document the landscape of the Pacific Northwest

What was du Camp's actual profession?

Journalist

What support did the previously mentioned photographers have?

Monetary support or government sponsorship

Who was able to pursue travel photography as a hobby before the 1890s?

Rich people

What was an advantage of pre-made gelatin-based film?

The film could be prepared ahead of time and pre-packaged?

What materials were used for gelatin negatives?

Glass, paper, then plastic

What were 19th century large-format box cameras made of?

Wood

What kind of camera would allow travelers to easily document their journeys?

A portable camera with rolled film

Where and when was George Eastman born?

New York in 1854

How old was Eastman when he dropped out of school?

14

Why did Eastman leave school?

To support his widowed mother

What were Eastman's first 2 jobs?

Messenger boy and bank clerk

When did Eastman learn photography?

In his early twenties

What process did Eastman develop?

Manufacturing gelatin plates on glass

When did Eastman found the Eastman company?

1881

Where was the Eastman company based?

Rochester, NY

What was the significance of the Eastman company?

It was the foremost American developer of camera and film technologies

What did the Eastman company do in 1935?

Market the first successful color film (Kodachrome)

What did the Eastman company do in 1975?

Market the first handheld digital cameras

What was the first model of portable camera?

Kodak No. 1

When was the Kodak No. 1 developed?

1888

How much did the Kodak No. 1 cost?

$25

How much did the Brownie camera cost in 1900?

$1

How many cameras had Kodak sold by 1905?

1.2 million

How small had cameras become by the turn of the century?

Small enough to fit in a coat pocket

How much did a Kodak No. 1 weigh?

2 lbs

How much did the Folding No. 1 weigh?

Less than 8 oz

What did the Kodak No. 1 manual claim?

A new user could learn to take pictures within 20 minutes

How did Kodak cameras work?

A roll of film was stretched between 2 spools and when the user wound a small wheel, it turned the spools and advanced the film

How many shots could early Kodak models take?

100

How did the shutter work?

A button mechanism would open the shutter for a split second, letting light hit the film

What feature did the Kodak No. 2 and other models have?

A small window that gave a preview of the final image

How did Kodak make taking pictures easier for users?

They had a mail-order processing service that removed the need for the user to learn chemistry

What did Kodak ads say?

You press the button, we do the rest

What did the term "snapshot" photography imply at first?

That a photographer paid little attention to setting up shots

What did the Chicago Tribune report in 1891?

The Kodak "craze is spreading … Kodakers were out in droves"

Why is it easy to take lots of pictures in a day in modern times?

Cloud-based storage

What did Kodak cameras represent to 19th century travelers?

The opportunity to frame their own memories

What were photo albums used to do?

Curate and collect images

What was Fred Church's nickname?

Chappie

What was Church's role in the Eastman company?

Patent lawyer

What was the purpose of Eastman and Church's 1890 trip?

Business

What relationship did Eastman and Church have?

Close friends

What group were Eastman and Church a part of?

A group of male friends who enjoyed camping, fishing, and hiking together

What does George Eastman on board the S.S. Gallia document?

The early years of snapshot photography

What was one of Kodak's successful marketing campaigns?

Take a Kodak with You

What did the ads in Kodak's campaign show?

A wide variety of users taking cameras to various events and locations

What was the implication of the Take a Kodak with You campaign?

Any traveler should go with a portable, lightweight camera