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Showing posts from January, 2012

The Yellow Father

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Last week was a sad one for those of us in the photography industry. The company once known as the "Yellow Father" filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Chapter 11 does not mean that the Eastman Kodak Company is out of business, but if and when it emerges from Chapter 11, it will be a much different and smaller company that it was before. When I teach the history of photography, I break photography down into three eras - before Kodak, the Kodak reign, and after Kodak. The twentieth century was the era of roll film and it was dominated by one large company. I can think of no other industry that was so dominated by one company for so long. Many of us in the photography business looked upon Eastman Kodak as the benevolent grandfather who could do no wrong. Unfortunately most grandfathers eventually lose touch with the times and need somebody to just make them comfortable in their last days and EK seems to be at that stage. George Eastman was a visionary who invented