Today I visited the The George Eastman House. it’s the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the world’s oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York, USA. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and photograph conservation, educating archivists and conservators from around the world.

George Eastman (July 12, 1854 – March 14, 1932) founded the Eastman Kodak Company and invented roll film, helping to bring photography to the mainstream (click the pictures to view large).

He had 4 business principles/guidelines which he followed whole his life. The product (camera & film) had to be working all the time, so decisive moments wouldn’t be missed.

Cost had to be low, so it could be sold as a mass product. Furthermore the manufacturing of the products had to be automated utilizing machines (one could said that he was ahead of car manufacturer Ford). The last principle was to advertise the product to the mass market, making it known globally.

The best example and a great success was the Brownie. Brownie was the name of a long-running and extremely popular series of simple and inexpensive cameras made by Eastman Kodak. The Brownie popularized low-cost photography and introduced the concept of the snapshot.

The first Brownie, introduced in February, 1900, was a very basic cardboard box camera with a simple meniscus lens that took 2¼-inch square pictures on 117 rollfilm. With its simple controls and initial price of $1 (I had one in my hands today), it was intended to be a camera that anyone could afford and use, leading to the popular slogan, “You push the button, we do the rest. (Wiki)”

The House is beautiful and the reception (by Wendy, don’t forget her name) was warm and charming. We felt very welcome. She immediately sent us to Bobby a volunteer to the museum and a great guide and storyteller. Never a dull moment listening to her and the time passed very quickly (you can see Bobby in the photo below gesturing and telling a story about the elephant of Mr. Eastman).

There are two exhibitions as well at the moment. One of fellow countrymen, about the Dutch urban landscape and the other about 50 great B&W photos of Jessica Lange (actress AND photographer). Shot with a Leica on Kodak B&W these are very impressive pictures.

Mr. Eastman took his own life in 1932 severely ill and frightened that he would loose control over his own mind. He left a simple note stating “My work is done. Why wait?”.

His legacy made him immortal. He had followed all of his lights at the age of 77.