In honor of National Photography Month, I want to share the story of the man who made the camera as easy to use as a pencil.  Who was he?  George Eastman, the founder of Kodak.

Eastman lived in upstate New York in the small rural town of Rochester. In 1870, while working as a bank teller, he became fascinated with the new invention of photography.  Back then a photographic kit consisted of a huge camera, a tripod, fragile glass plates and jars, a funnel, brushes, chemicals, and a tent to use as a darkroom.

From the beginning, the bulk of the paraphernalia worried Eastman. It seemed to him you ought to be able to carry less than a pack-horse load to take a photograph. Despite the disadvantages, Eastman became “wholy absorbed in photography.”

He took lessons and read photographic journals. When he had the chance, he took trips to practice his hobby. During the summer of 1878, Eastman traveled to Mackinac Island on Lake Huron in Michigan. He wanted to photograph a natural bridge that had formed on the island. When he went into his portable dark room to begin preparing his photographic plates, a group of tourists spotted him. They assumed he was a professional photographer and lingered near the bridge so he would take their picture.

Eastman ignored them. When one of the men from the group approached him and inquired about the cost of his photographs, Eastman replied he was an amateur and his photographs were not for sale.

This angered the tourist and he complained, “Then why did you let us stand in the hot sun for a full half-hour while you fooled around with your contraptions? You ought to wear a sign saying that you are an amateur!”

The tourist had no idea that one day this young amateur would revolutionize the field of photography and make it easy for him to take his own photographs.  Plus, the Kodak trademark would be known around the world.

 

[Excerpts from  George Eastman: Bringing Photography by Lynda Pflueger]