How Film Was Made in 1958: A Kodak Nostalgia Moment

Before pix­els there were sil­ver halide crys­tals, and before mem­o­ry cards, film. Lit­tle yel­low box­es clut­tered the lives of pho­tog­ra­phers every­where, and the East­man Kodak Com­pa­ny was vir­tu­al­ly syn­ony­mous with pho­tog­ra­phy.

Things have real­ly changed. With the recent news that Kodak is tee­ter­ing on the brink of Chap­ter 11 bank­rupt­cy, many are feel­ing nos­tal­gia for those lit­tle yel­low box­es and the rolls of sil­ver gelatin film inside. To indulge this nostalgia–and per­haps learn some­thing new about an old technology–we offer a fas­ci­nat­ing 1958 doc­u­men­tary from Kodak enti­tled How Film is Made.

The doc­u­men­tary is in Dutch, but mem­bers of the Ana­log Pho­tog­ra­phy Users Group launched a project to cre­ate Eng­lish sub­ti­tles. You can read more about the project on Dutch mem­ber Mar­co Boeringa’s web­site. And you can watch the 18-minute film start­ing above and con­clud­ing below.

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  • Daniel Bavolack says:

    My first full-time job after grad­u­a­tion from Syra­cuse Uni­ver­si­ty in 1955 was for the East­man Kodak Com­pa­ny, in Rochester New York. I was hired as a tech­ni­cal edi­tor, with the expec­ta­tion that, like every­one else, I would work for 41 years and be retired now with full ben­e­fits until I die. It was like join­ing a church. Anoth­er sto­ry. There I met my first Dutch friend-for­ev­er, Fred Kub­bin­ga. Anoth­er sto­ry. The work cul­ture? Unique. Anoth­er sto­ry. After 18 years I left Kodak to pur­sue a free-lance life style in the larg­er world. I am now a writer and actor who sings and dances. Anoth­er sto­ry. Thank you for notic­ing.

  • Paul Steffen says:

    ^^ Love this com­ment ^^ Thanks for shar­ing!

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