Photographic film is remarkable. It records an image of a scene that strikes its surface for a fraction of a second, and then simulates how the human visual system would perceive the scene. It remains light sensitive for many decades, uses no external power, and the developed the image remains unchanged for at least many decades. In addition miles and miles of film are made that has identical performance.

This is accomplished by starting with hundreds of chemicals made to purity higher than pharmaceutical standards and sensitive to countless contaminants at a PPM and PPB level, then mixing them and controlling them at an atomic and molecular level, coating them in 20 different layers totally less than half the thickness of a human hair on a flying web going a 1000 feet per minute in total darkness.  The resulting product is in a form that an everyday person can use by inserting into a camera and taking pictures in any possible situation and then giving the film to a teenager who processes it in a processor totally outside the film manufacturer’s control and prints it onto a variety of competitive products and yet the pictures come out perfect. Now that’s product design and control!!

Eastman Kodak employees have worked since 1880 improving silver halide technology that is used in photographic film. Through the years, thousands of Kodak scientists, engineers, technicians and operators have spent their intellect, energy, and working lives improving and operating the processes that produce this simple-to-use but complex-to-make product. The resulting film is ubiquitous— but the entire process for making it was unknown to all but a very few.

I wanted to write a book to document the accomplishments of these many people by explaining the state-of-the-art standard that their efforts created. Until recently Kodak’s film manufacturing process has been hidden behind a “Silver Curtain” of secrecy. My purpose is to simply yet thoroughly explain how film works and is manufactured. Seeing how film is made enables a better understanding of an amazing technology. Even people who have spent their lives in photography—perhaps even those who scorn a medium they believe made obsolete by digital imaging processes—can understand what a remarkable thing a single picture is, how such pictures transformed the 20th century, and how useful this apparently outdated technology remains for those who recognize its power.

Editor’s note: To see more images, read reviews, and purchase Mr. Shanebrook’s groundbreaking book, click here.

It’s fall and the 2010 Photography Workshops season is winding down. We had a great class at this past weekend’s sold out workshop on How to Identify and Preserve Historic Photographs, focusing on 19^th Century images. And since you’ve been asking….

Yes!  we still have some spaces available for the workshop, The Platinum Print: History & Technique, on November 13 and 14. Yes! the workshops are very hands-on! Participants will not only learn the history of this process, but  learn how to make platinum prints by our guest teacher Ron Cowie. Ron is just great – he’s so enthusiastic about the subject — there will not be a dull moment.

Ron Cowie (left) and Mark Osterman in demo mode.

Mark Osterman leading a class in the Eastman House gardens.

Of course, there are many places in the country where you could learn about the platinum process, but what has really gotten a great response from past classes is the visit to our Photographic Print Archive to  examine the marvelous unframed examples.

Alvin Langdon Coburn, The Flat Iron Building, Evening, 1912

Frederick H. Evans, F Holland Day in Algerian Costume, 1901

Peter Henry Emerson, Ricking the Reed, ca. 1885

There’s really nothing like seeing these prints from the masters themselves. Mark Osterman, with archivist Joe Struble, will be looking at classic platinum prints by Alvin Langdon Coburn, Frederick Evans, Peter Henry Emerson, Doris Ullman and Gertrude Käsebier— as well as more contemporary examples by Dick Arentz and Eikoh Hosoe.

We hope to see you there for an amazing experience!

For more than 28 years I have been educating the world about George Eastman and his contributions to the world of photography and film, as well as his philanthropic efforts. And while I am the curator of the Eastman Legacy Collection at George Eastman House, the one and only person I can turn to, to answer questions on Eastman that I cannot, is George Eastman historian and biographer Elizabeth “Betsy” Brayer.

Betsy Brayer

She is the one who elevated Eastman’s legacy in Rochester, decades after his death in 1932, by researching archives at Eastman Kodak Company to bring his story to life—first in newspaper stories and ultimately in a 637-page book George Eastman: A Biography. 

Betsy has also humanized Eastman, the father of popular photography and motion picture film and for decades the greatest benefactor of American education — beginning with dozens of local newspaper articles she wrote in 1979 and 1980 and ultimately the biography published by The Johns Hopkins University Press in 1996 and reprinted in 2006 by the University of Rochester Press. Betsy’s research on Eastman began as a newspaper reporter writing about the architecture along Eastman Avenue. When she set out to write about historic Eastman House, she learned there was not a lot that was known. The more she learned about Eastman, she uncovered one fascinating story after another, and was encouraged to write his biography.

Betsy has told me she is pleased Eastman’s legacy has been fostered through her research and writing, noting there was a long period where Eastman was “sort of out of vogue, and the focus was on new photography and he was considered old hat.”

Betsy’s association with Eastman House began in 1980, when Museum representatives appointed her historical consultant to guide in the renovation of the house and gardens. And over three decades she has kept Eastman’s Legacy alive through her continued research, publications, and speaking engagements, and by serving on the Museum’s George Eastman Legacy and Landscape Committees.

To honor Betsy for her community contributions as an author and historian, George Eastman House will bestow the title of George Eastman Honorary Scholar upon Brayer during a Dryden Theatre ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22. Past recipients of the prestigious George Eastman Honorary Scholar title include directors Ken Burns and John Frankenheimer; actors Dennis Hopper and Jeff Bridges; and writer Roger Ebert.

Although Betsy is formally being honored by Eastman House, representatives from other local organizations will be in attendance to recognize her writing career, as she has authored a book on each:—the Institute for Oral Health, University of Rochester, Friendly Home, Genesee Valley Club, The Chatterbox, and Brighton Historical Society. Her current project is a book about the Eastman Theatre, coming out in December.

The event honoring Betsy Brayer is open to the public. The award ceremony will be followed by a reception in the historic house. Samples of her publications will be on display. Betsy has requested that any donations in her honor be made to the George Eastman Legacy Acquisition Fund. Tickets for this special event are $25 ($20 for Eastman House members), with patron level tickets $50. You can purchase them by calling me at (585) 271-3361 ext. 242 or emailing me at kconnor@geh.org.

As we enter the last month of our Colorama exhibition at the Museum, we’d like to share some of the stories people have sent us about their own connection to these images— and the times they captured (and manufactured) of a by-gone era. Over the next four weeks, we’ll be blogging some of our favorites entries to close out the exhibit. This one comes from Dr. Suzi Campanaro, daughter of the photographer:

The Baby Picture Colorama will always be my favorite!

No matter what’s going around you, no matter what life issues you’re dealing with, no matter what mood you’re in …the baby picture MAKES you stop and smile!

So proud that my nephew Evan was one of the adorable models in the picture!(28 years ago!)
Even more proud that my father Sam Campanaro snapped the infamous shot!
He was and always will be an inspiration to the lives he touched through the years with his pictures!

Thank you to the Eastman House for letting the public enjoy all the coloramas again.
Congratulations to all the models and photographers for making us smile!

…and this one from VickiJo Claire:

What a wonderful experience to be part of the famous baby picture. We still try to keep track of those beautiful babies who are 26 years old this year. My how time flies. I can’t believe that that picture is still up and in circulation making many people smile in nurseries , bus stations , doctors offices, and gift shops around the world.   Thank you Sam…. , Dad, Peeps( as his many grandchildren call him )…. We love you!

…and finally, from ‘proud dad’, Barry Fitzgerald:

It is with fond memory that I look back on the day that my daughter Christine was selected to be one of the “Kodak Kids” back in the 80′s shortly after she arrived in  our home from Korea.. Although I am sure the photography time at Kodak Office was more then a little trying for my wife while they tried to get the  infants to hold still for that one picture and others to come but the outcome was well worth the effort as she and I  took a great deal of pride in not only seeing the picture with our daughter in it but hearing about it from our friends and strangers as it gave us a chance to brag about our little girl to who ever would listen.Sam Campanaro was the photographer . He was a true gentlemen who always spoke fondly of his kids even years later  and remembered then all name . I had the picture hanging in my office at Kodak for 30+ years and it never stopped getting positive comments. Christine is an attorney now in California who has continued to make me proud of her now just as she did in each photo session when she was little .

Don’t forget to check out our Colorama Story Facebook page for videos of the Colorama photographers, models, and friends sharing their memories (coming Sept. 24th), to browse images from the exhibition, and to post your own story.

This Fall marks the third consecutive year the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA has worked with George Eastman House to bring a series of recently restored early features from the GEH Collection. On October 15, I will be traveling to the Warhol to introduce HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1920) directed by William Desmond Taylor.

This past week I had an opportunity to speak with Daryl Fleming, the composer charged with writing and performing a new score for the film.  Mr. Fleming has recently taken to calling his music ‘pan-temporal songwriting.’  Upon being asked what this is intended to imply he states that his music borrows “liberally from many eras without an attempt at “authenticity.” It is NOT period music, despite melodies, text, and more often being historical in nature.  The music is syncretistic and never devolves into anachronism.  These are real words. Look them up if you don’t believe me!”

HUCKLEBERRY FINN has been a good fit for his music.  The instrumentation for the score will include violin, guitar, harmonica, lap steel, and acoustic bass.  Not shocking choices for Mr. Fleming or a story by Mark Twain.  He says that “some of the music will use harmony that post-dates the 19th century, at least the harmonies of the folk music of the era. Some of the music I wrote specifically for Huck Finn. I will also quote liberally from Red-Haired Boy, Dvorak’s New World Symphony, and elsewhere, and hope to avoid kitsch. There will be some “noise” elements as well, sending things a bit out the window for brief periods.”

Mr. Fleming has been involved in Pittsburgh’s music scene for more than 25 years.  When asked how this project is different than all the others he replied “truth is this is my first film score. Folks have often commented on the “cinematic” sound of some of my tunes. I’m up for the task, but I suppose others will be the judge of that–which I welcome. The differences between writing this score and songwriting? Talk to me after the rehearsals and the show and I’ll have a better idea of that. One thing is for sure: writing a score is more time consuming. That’s a fairly mundane response. But true.”

Knowing that the audience will likely be made up of silent film fans and Mark Twain enthusiasts I asked Mr. Fleming what they can expect from his music.  His response was one that should be the goal of anyone composing a film score.  He said resolutely that he sees his music as adding to the “comprehension and emotional experience of the film.”

The Andy Warhol Museum Theatre

It is a rare opportunity these days for Pittsburghers to get to see a brand new 35mm print of a restored silent film accompanied by live musicians.  The Warhol might be the only venue left in town where it is even a possibility.  For this reason George Eastman House is very proud to work with the Andy Warhol Museum.  Hopefully the relationship will continue into the distant future.

Read more about Huck Finn from this year’s 360 I 365 Film Festival.