George Eastman Kodak: The Man Behind the Revolution and Wealth

On the greeting of July 12, 1854, a young mates from New York was eagerly awaiting the accomplishment of their 3rd child, hoping for a lad to articulation their 2 daughters. When George Eastman Kodak was born, his parents’ joyousness was boundless, particularly his affluent father, a palmy husbandman and the laminitis of the renowned "Eastman Commercial College" successful the 1840s.

George attended school, but his begetter fell earnestly sick with a encephalon disease, rapidly worsening until the household had to merchantability their assets to screen attraction costs. Despite their efforts, his begetter passed away, leaving the household financially strained. One of George's sisters besides developed paralysis, requiring her to usage a wheelchair, and his parent had to spot George successful a boarding school.

Documenting a Journey

At fourteen, George near school, arsenic his teachers consistently noted helium was “incompetent.” He took up a occupation arsenic a nighttime watchman astatine an security institution with a humble salary. Later, helium moved to enactment successful the accounting section of Rochester Bank. In 1877, upon a friend's suggestion, helium ventured into existent estate, which was thriving successful the Caribbean. Carrying a bulky photographic camera, helium acceptable off, unaware that this travel would ignite his passionateness for photography and pb him to invent the iconic Kodak cameras, everlastingly linking his sanction to the satellite of imagery.

The World of Photography

George's aboriginal camera, arsenic ample arsenic a microwave, utilized bedewed collodion plates earlier the invention of adust film. Despite the camera's bulk, helium became captivated by photography, adjacent forgetting the archetypal intent of his trip. Returning to New York, helium immersed himself successful the satellite of photography, learning to marque his ain photographic plates aft speechmaking astir their accumulation successful Britain. One evening, portion engrossed successful making a plate, helium wondered, “Why not person adust plates?” This thought acceptable him connected a three-year travel of experimenting with adust photographic plates utilizing metallic bromide, each portion moving by time successful the bank.

Eventually, helium created a tiny instrumentality to mass-produce these plates. When helium realized that his banking occupation hindered his photography business, helium resigned, starting his ain institution to nutrient the plates. After archetypal prime issues and fiscal losses, helium persevered, and by 1880, accumulation reached 4,000 plates.

Inventor of a Visual Revolution

In 1888, George Eastman Kodak revolutionized photography by inventing the rotation of film, which allowed aggregate exposures successful 1 reel. He patented a camera plan featuring a rotating movie reel, which could seizure up to 100 photos. With its compact size and simplicity, the “Kodak Camera” opened photography to non-professionals, enabling radical to papers life’s moments. Priced astatine $25 (equivalent to astir $760 today), it featured a leather-covered container and a broadside fastener for capturing images. The Kodak slogan, “Press the button, we bash the rest,” inactive resonates with photography enthusiasts worldwide.

The Final Message

In 1924, George Eastman Kodak donated $75 cardinal of his wealthiness (then valued astatine $160 million) to charitable causes, backing renovations for the Eastman School of Music and gathering aesculapian and dental institutions successful his hometown of Rochester. He besides supported dental projects successful London, exertion institutes successful Rochester and Massachusetts, historically Black universities successful the confederate United States, and wellness services successful impoverished areas of London and different European cities.

In his past years, Eastman endured terrible spinal pain, diagnosed arsenic partial paralysis. After his mother’s passing from cancer, helium succumbed to depression, and connected March 14, 1932, helium took his ain life, leaving a enactment that read, “My friends, my enactment is done, wherefore wait?”

Source: ALBAYAN NEWSPAPER 

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