In 1888, the Eastman Kodak Company rolled out a new camera and a new slogan. “You press the button, we do the rest.” To say this moment revolutionized photography would be an understatement. But this story isn't just about Kodak. It's about what happens when a powerful technology, originally only understood by a select few, can suddenly fit in your hand. The photography processes developed in the mid-1800s required a mastery of chemistry, timing, and light to achieve a successful result. Becoming a photographer meant training on complicated equipment like big, bulky cameras loaded with glass plates coated with photosensitive chemicals. Not to mention the expertise needed to develop images in a dark room once a photo was taken. Professionals set up shop in photography studios and offered their specialized skill set to a paying clientele. Getting your photo taken was often a pretty serious, rare occasion. That is, until the Kodak No. 1 debuted. It was a handheld box camera pre-loaded

with a relatively new lightweight invention: roll film. One roll in this camera could shoot 100 photos, each cropped in a circle. The results weren’t nearly as sharp or detailed as professional equipment could produce, but they were photos – taken, for the first time, by people with little or no previous knowledge of photography. When you were done, you mailed the whole thing off to Kodak, and they mailed you back a camera with a freshly loaded roll of film in it ready to shoot, along with your processed and printed photos. This was just the beginning of people using photography to tell their personal stories. They organized their printed Kodak photos into albums to document their travels and their daily lives at home. People took portraits of each other, but also candid street scenes. The casual nature of these photos, made possible by how quickly the Kodak No. 1 could take pictures, showed natural smiles and people at ease – in comparison to the portraits done in professional studios up to this point.

which often had longer exposure times and a more formal setting. Kodak photos came to be known by a word that, up until this point, was used in hunting, and referred to “a quick shot with a gun without aim at a fast-moving target.” Owning a Kodak No. 1 would set you back $25, or the equivalent of more than $800 today. So while photography was changing, it was still well out of reach for most consumers. The real breakthrough in amateur photography came a little more than a decade later, when Kodak introduced the Brownie. A simple box camera made of cardboard encased in faux leather, the Brownie cost $1 in 1900, or about $38 today. And whereas the Kodak No. 1 was marketed toward the upper middle class, the Brownie, at least at first, was marketed toward children. Brownie users loaded their own roll of Kodak film into the cameras, which, according to this Kodak Trade Circular

announcing the camera in February 1900, originally cost 15 cents each and were good for six square exposures. And it wasn't just children using Brownies. Once people realized these cheap point-and-shoot cameras designed for kids actually took pretty good photos, adults started carrying them around too. And by the time the updated No. 2 Brownie came out in 1901, these handheld cameras were everywhere. By the end of 1905, more than 1.2 million cameras had been sold. Kodak advertised relentlessly in the early 1900s, branding their automatic cameras as crucial for capturing fleeting moments as lasting memories. You could “take a Kodak with you.” And the role of the camera as a record of one's personal travels and small moments at home that began with wealthy hobbyists in the late 1800s became central to Kodak's branding in the 20th century. ARCHIVE: “For over 100 years.

People have trusted their memories to Kodak film. America's storyteller. The company dominated the consumer-level photo and film development market for over a century after its Kodak No. 1 box camera came out. But by the mid-90s, a competitor from Japan, Fujifilm, had begun to eat away at the American photo giant's market share, including in the sale of cheap disposable cameras. But that, ultimately, wasn't what pulled the plug on Kodak’s supremacy in the film and photo industry. 2000’s COMMERCIALS: “The 4MB Nikon Coolpix 4300.” “Sony Cybershot.” “Canon PowerShot digital cameras.” By the early 2000s, digital photography had outpaced film photography among consumers, and Kodak's relevance began to fade. The first digital camera was actually invented by a Kodak engineer in 1975, but the company, which from the beginning had built itself on selling and processing film,

rather than manufacturing cameras, didn't make the change soon enough. By the peak of the digital camera era in 2010, Kodak had fallen far behind in market share. They filed for bankruptcy in 2012, later reemerging with a focus on digital printing services, rather than film development. Of course, film photography never fully died. But the cost of film, which now caters to a somewhat niche market of dedicated hobbyists, keeps going up. And with the days of the ubiquitous One-Hour Photo business now behind us, amateurs without access to a darkroom mail off their photos for processing – just like the earliest days of roll film cameras. Kodak will probably never again be the industry giant it once was. But its legacy is in our pockets. This idea that you don't need to be a professional to take a picture started right here, in 1888: “You press the button, we do the rest.” Really quickly, before you go, we have something

We're excited to tell you about Vox. Vox has launched a membership program. It's the best way to support our journalism. As a Vox member, you'll gain greater access to our award-winning newsroom and have your curiosity sparked by our new member-only benefits. Please consider becoming a Vox member today. Go to vox.com/memberships to join.

How Kodak invented the “snapshot”

Vox helps you understand our world.

Vox video is Bridgett Henwood, Cath Spangler, Adam Freelander, Joey Sendaydiego, Coleman Lowndes, Christophe Haubursin, Kim Mas, Laura Bult, Ed Vega, Rajaa Elidrissi, and with research support from Melissa Hirsch. 

Become a member today: https://www.vox.com/support-now

Check out our FAQ on permissions and licensing of our videos: https://www.voxmedia.com/pages/licensing

✉️ Write us: voxvideo@vox.com


How Kodak invented the “snapshot”

How Kodak invented the “snapshot”

스크립트