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The Historic George Eastman House
By Jerry Currier | Nov 1, 2007
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George Eastman House, Built in 1905 |
Rochester, New York is the home of the world’s preeminent museum of photography, George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film. It is the oldest photography museum in the world and one of the most important film (motion picture) archives as well.
Housed, in part, in the restored Colonial Revival mansion that George Eastman built at 900 East Avenue between 1902 and 1905, the Museum’s goals, as stated on its website are:
• Collect and preserve objects that are of significance to photography, motion pictures, and the life of George Eastman.
• Build information resources to provide the means for both scholarly research and recreational inquiry.
• Keep and care for images, literature, and technology to tell the story of photography and the motion picture in history and in culture.
• Care for George Eastman’s house, gardens, and archives, maintaining them for public enjoyment and as a memorial to his contribution to our lives and our times.
Who was George Eastman? Often called the “father of modern photography,” Mr. Eastman felt that the complicated system of “wet emulsion” plates, employed by photographers in the late 1800s could be simplified and made easier to use. In October, 1884 he received patent #306,594 for photographic film. This invention led to the development of small, easy to use cameras that were “as convenient as the pencil.” The “Kodak” camera, introduced in 1888 was advertised with the slogan, "You press the button, we do the rest."
In addition, a flexible film, invented by Eastman’s company, helped create the motion picture industry.
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The Kodak Camera, Introduced by George Eastman in 1888 |
There could hardly be a more fitting use of George Eastman’s house than this, a world class museum devoted to photography and film.
The Museum opened to the public in 1949.
Later in the 20th Century, a $17 million endowment gift from Eastman Kodak was answered by $12.5 million in public contributions. More than $30 million was raised for capital improvements to the Museum and for collections care in the years 1985 through 1988.
The Museum is now home for “more than 400,000 photographs and negatives; 28,000 films, more than 3 million film stills, posters, scripts, and scores; 53,000 publications; and more than 20,000 pieces of technology,” which are housed in a 73,000 square foot archives building with climate controlled vault and spaces for research and galleries.
The Museum also houses the 500-seat Dryden Theater. The theater offers screenings of films from the Museum's vast motion picture archives, six nights a week. A $3 million restoration of the theater was begun in 2002 and will be completed over the next several years.
A visit to the Museum’s website will award the visitor with many exciting avenues to explore. The “Collections Online” link offers a fascinating compilation of images by photographers, known, little known and unknown. There are also links for online versions of two Museum publications, Close-Up and Image.
The website features Museum staff members presenting free podcasts (http://podcast.eastmanhouse.org/) that are informative, entertaining and educational. There are six currently available. A couple that are particularly interesting are: “Ghosts in the Landscape” a traveling exhibit by an ex-combat Marine and Vietnam veteran who retraces his military experiences in that country. It is a look at post war Vietnam through the lens of an 8” x 10” pinhole camera. Another is Grant Romer’s “Introduction to the Photo Conservation Department” in which he recounts his personal encounter with history and an American legend.
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Eden in the Mekong © Craig J. Barber |
Traveling Exhibitions are another exciting part of the Museum’s services. They feature selections of images from the Museum’s collection and focus on diverse subjects as well as individual photographers. Information about these exhibitions may be found at http://www.eastmanhouse.org/inc/exhibitions/traveling.php
All in all, the Museum’s website offers the visitor a wealth of information presented in an educational manner that can be entertaining and fun.
I recently had the opportunity to ask Dresden Engle, the Museum’s Public Relations Manager, to share with Double Exposure readers some additional information about the Museum:
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George Eastman with Kodak #2 Camera on the S.S. Gallia in 1890 |
Jerry Currier: Is George Eastman House associated with Eastman Kodak Company or is it an independent organization?
Dresden Engle: While George Eastman House tells the story of the history of Eastman and Kodak (and holds Kodak’s camera collection, print advertising collection, and all of Eastman's patents and business papers), the Museum has always been an independent non-profit organization since its founding in 1947 (opening to the public in 1949).
JC: The first item on the Museum’s mission statement is to “Collect and preserve objects that are of significance to photography, motion pictures, and the life of George Eastman. Is there a specific criteria used to determine what is “significant?”
DE: Significance is based upon the importance to the history of photography and motion pictures, from daguerreotypes to digital, and from autochromes to snapshots, as well pre-cinema artifacts and every motion picture format since its inception in 1894, as well as the cameras involved with the capturing these.
JC: Does the Museum actively search out significant items or are these usually donated by interested people?
DE: George Eastman House is fortunate to regularly receive artifacts and collections from donors. However, the Museum also actively acquires artifacts, including photography and motion picture artifacts and George Eastman's personal furniture items.
JC: The mission statement also indicates that keeping and caring for photographic and film images, literature and technology is an important goal of the Museum. First of all, what does the term “film” mean in this context? Is it referring to motion pictures on photographic film only or does the Museum also collect video creations?
DE: Film in this context means motion pictures. We do collect some video creations.
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Buffalo Pictorialist Charlotte Spaulding Albright © Edward Steichen |
JC: How is “technology” defined? Does it go beyond cameras? If so, can you give our readers an idea of what other technological material is sought out and preserved by the Museum?
DE: Technology encompasses the camera, its lenses and bulbs, film, tripods, etc.
JC: In keeping with the Museum’s desire “…to provide the means for both scholarly research and recreational inquiry,” teachers may schedule virtual field trips for middle and high school students by following this link: http://www.eastmanhouse.org/inc/education/distance.php.
Are there other resources available that meet these aims?
DE: The Eastman House collections are available for all to see. One need only make an appointment with the appropriate archivist to see an item from the collection.
JC: Dresden, I have found the podcasts especially interesting. I wonder if you could tell us more about them? How long has the Museum been doing podcasts?
DE: We launched our first podcast in June 2007. These "mini documentaries" about Easmtan House collections, acquisitions, and happenings can be viewed at eastmanhouse.org, on YouTube, and by subscribing via itunes (and downloaded for your ipod).
JC: What subjects and/or people are in the works for future podcasts?
DE: The plan is, by year's end, to offer a new podcast each week. Upcoming podcasts will feature recent motion picture and photography acquisitions, such as the Burton Holmes travelogue films and two rare Steichen autochromes; an overview of the technology collection, featuring the 1839 Giroux daguerreotype camera, an 1895 Lumiere cinematographe, and an 1888 Kodak camera; and current photography conservation projects.
JC: Dresden, thank you for spending some time with us and giving Double Exposure readers a personal look into one of the world’s great photographic institutions.
For more information on the George Eastman House, visit www.eastmanhouse.org.
Let us know if you found this article useful, and tell us what kinds of articles you'd like to see in upcoming issues. Send your comments and ideas to Lynne Eodice.
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© Copyright 2008 by PHOTOWORKSHOP.COM
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Last Updated: Nov 18th, 2008 - 13:25:22
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