It is one of those names that when you think of photography the name of Kodak has to crop up in the conversation. I remember not that many years ago when I went to photographic classes the debate about which film was the best one to use and if you did your own developing and printing, which papers did you prefer. In those days there was always a lively debate about whether Kodak was better than Agfa or Ilford; it became even hotter if you favoured transparencies against printed pictures. Then along came digital photography and using film simply faded away. No longer then did we experience the excitement, or disappointment, when you opened up the packet of pictures at the chemist or photographic shop. Why did I take a picture of just Sally’s feet!

Although Kodak did manufacture cameras and other photographic products it made all its money from selling film, then the digital camera came along and now no-one’s buying film. I have managed to find some interesting facts about Kodak and I’m sure that everyone has at least one Kodak product in their home, even if it’s an old black and white print.

Kodak founder George Eastman produced the first camera film in rolls in 1883. The firm Kodak is set up in 1888 and launches the first consumer camera in 1888 with the slogan: “You press the button, we do the rest”. In 1900 Kodak introduces a consumer camera for $1 called the Brownie, which goes on to become a best-seller in America and I had one of those, so did most people I imagine. This I found very interesting, in 1969 a Kodak camera is used by astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong to record the first Moon landing. Farewell Kodak!