The History of Photography: Carl W. Ackerman's George Eastman

The life of George Eastman is very much a part of the history of contemporary photography. Founder of the Eastman Kodak Company, Eastman was an enthusiastic photographer himself who became instrumental in bringing photography to the mainstream. He invented the first commercial film, as well as the first Kodak cameras designed to be accessible to anyone, at a time when photography entailed expensive and complicated processes reserved only for trained and professional photographers. His inventions also became the basis for the development of the first motion pictures, making Eastman perhaps one of the most important figures in the formation of our modern image-based culture.