George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Kodak Colorama — the gigantic panoramic images that dominated Grand Central Terminal for 40 years, from 1950 to 1990 — with an international touring exhibition titled Colorama debuting June 19, on view at Eastman House through Oct. 17, 2010. At the same time, Eastman House is announcing Eastman Kodak Company has donated its Colorama archive to the museum.
Coloramas were promoted by Kodak as “the world’s largest photographs” and called “technically remarkable” by Ansel Adams, who photographed several. The towering backlit transparencies were 18-feet high and 60-feet wide, each illuminated by more than a mile of tubing. A total of 565 Coloramas were publicly displayed, changing out every three weeks.
The archive gift from Kodak of several thousand items includes display images of all Coloramas, including ones that were intended but not featured, plus research documents, negatives, guide prints, proof prints, model releases, and digital files. This archive will join the Eastman House current holdings of high-res scans and a detailed history compiled by long-time Kodak and Colorama photographer Norman Kerr.
“We are delighted that this treasure trove of photographic history and imaging technology, which enthralled millions of people over the years, has found a home where they will be preserved for many more people to enjoy in the future,” said Kodak professional photographer Steve Kelly, himself the creator of several Coloramas. “These images were Kodak Moments of the highest order, and we at Kodak are proud to have them reside at the home of our founder so that the public can once again experience the magnificence of these images.”
When each new Colorama was unveiled, it often received ovation from New York City residents and travelers. Photographer Edward Steichen telegraphed Kodak upon viewing a Colorama in 1950, stating, “EVERYONE IN GRAND CENTRAL AGOG AND SMILING. ALL JUST FEELING GOOD.”
“These illuminated images reflected and reinforced American values and aspirations while encouraging picture-taking as an essential aspect of leisure, travel, and family,” said Dr. Alison Nordström, Eastman House curator of photographs, “The Coloramas taught us not only what to photograph, but how to see the world as though it were a photograph. They served to manifest and visualize values that even then were misunderstood as nostalgic and in jeopardy, salvageable only through the time-defying alchemy of Kodak cameras and film.”
A constant in the first two decades of Colorama was a model using a Kodak camera, photographing family, an activity, or beautiful scene. “Coloramas resonate with nostalgia, a staple in Kodak advertising since at least 1900, reminding us to pause, via photography, in the midst of present enjoyment to record it for later remembrance,” Nordström said. In addition to Adams, well-known names associated with Colorama include photographer Elliot Porter, artist Norman Rockwell who art-directed a Colorama, and TV’s Ozzie and Harriett who appeared in several.
The Eastman House exhibition, which will travel internationally after its Rochester debut, will focus on the 1960s — featuring cowboys in the Grand Tetons, waterskiers in Florida, children visiting Santa and breaking wishbones on Thanksgiving, tourists at the Taj Mahal, snowmobilers in New Hampshire, and the Junior Miss Pageant in Mobile, Alabama (at center is the 1964 winner, ABC’s Diane Sawyer). Eastman House representatives have been asked if a full-size original Colorama will be featured. The answer, frankly, is even one is too large to display in the museum.
The Eastman House exhibition will feature 36 Coloramas, some as large as 80 inches, as well as two video presentations. “We are determined to show the Coloramas looking as vibrant as they looked when they were first presented,” Nordström said.
