Thursday, January 12, 2012

Photo Graphics



Having grown up in the era of capturing moments (as opposed to the real-time 24/7 documentation that goes on today), the looming Kodak bankruptcy filing makes me a bit misty-eyed.

It’s amazing how much physical stuff beyond the camera itself, was involved in the taking and making of photographs. And each item came packaged with some representation of colorful optimism. At one end was the film. It was housed in a color-coded spool, which was safely ensconced in a lidded canister, which in turn was packaged in a trusty yellow box. At the other end were the printed images, which arrived in an elaborate system of envelopes and sleeves.

Here are just a few physical remains of the moment-capturing process, brought to us by Kodak and the others who packaged every step of the way. Just think, when Facebook files for bankruptcy in about a hundred years, there will be no clutter, at least of a physical nature, left behind.







I couldn’t find a year for this Brownie camera manual, but it is filled with
tips like “Hold the camera S-T-E-A-D-Y and press the exposure release
with a gentle squeezing action
…” and “Be sure your finger
is not in front of the lens.”





These souvenir slide collections are promoted
as "Not From Postcards."










Order forms to send in for duplicate
Polaroid prints.


3 comments:

  1. This is wonderful. I actually said something about "flash bulbs" to my kids the other day and was rewarded with a blank stare.

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  2. Hi,
    filmisnotdead! kodak-film is not going away… just check the sales in Europe and the world!

    Nice look on film and what it meant though!

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  3. The company which gave the concept of photography will cease to exist.This raises an important topic of whether technology and tradition can go hand in hand with technical innovations flying faster than the speed of light it has become difficult for even humans to keep up pace with it.No doubt a company of the caliber of Kodak has given up.I remember the old negatives and the Kodak cameras that we used to have.Some of the best memories of my life are inked in Kodak.

    ReplyDelete