Opened in 1949, the George Eastman House is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography. Housed in the mansion once owned by the man who founded the George Eastman Kodak Company in 1888, the collection incorporates a range of photography from early collotype prints and daguerreotypes to images of historical significance.
Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre, 1844 (Jean Baptiste Sabatier-Blot)
Recently digitized as part of the Google Art Project, the collection contains images from the early years of photography and represents images of significance from the 174 years of the medium's existence. Many of the best-known images come from The Gabriel Cromer Collection of early French photography, which was acquired in 1939. The Alden Scott Boyer Collection, added in 1951, contained some important 19th century British photographs, as well as a very large collection of daguerreotypes by the Boston studio of Southworth and Hawes. The Lewis Walton Sipley American Museum of Photography collection was added in 1977. Together, this large collection encompasses the broad history of photography.
Duc de Coimbra, 1860 (Andre-Adolphe Eugene Disderi)
Unlike today's image-filled world, during the 19th century the physical image was a commodity, something precious to be treasured. In 1872 Muybridge revolutionized photography with his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion at the Palo Alto Stock Farm. Muybridge's series of animals in motion led to the possibility of capturing an image in a tenth of a second. With this advance in technology, The Kodak Company helped to make photography more widespread, releasing "The Box Brownie." Introduced in 1900, the camera was famed for its $1 price tag and its simple design, and was intended as a camera that anyone could use, popularizing the snapshot aesthetic. The Box Brownie was accompanied by the slogan, "You push the button, we do the rest."
She Never Told Her Love, 1858 (Henry Peach Robinson)
Girl with Dove, 1860 (Oscar Reijander)
These early portraits hold an arresting power over the viewer, leading Walter Benjamin to conclude "during the lengthy exposure time required by these photos, they grew into the picture so to speak, thus contrasting crucially with the figures in the snapshot." This length of exposure exerts a more powerful and long-lasting impression on the viewer, something Benjamin argues has been lost with technological advancements.
Xie Kitchin as "A Chinaman", 1873 (Lewis Carroll)
While the technical process has undergone a vast change in the 174 years since some of these images were taken, the legacy, the likeness and clarity of image remains. With the decline of traditional film processes and the steady rise of digital imagery, it begs the question, will these digital images remain, as the ones housed in this collection have, in 100+ years time?
Major General Sir George Buller K.C.B, 1855 (Roger Fenton)
Ophelia Studie No.2, 1867 (Julia Margaret Cameron)
Rollin Heber Neal (American 1808-1879), 1850 (Southworth & Hawes)
Walking with bucket in mouth, light grey horse, 1884-1887 (Eadweard Muybridge)
All images from The George Eastman Collection.