Since the invention of photography in 1826, this technology, which Baudelaire was one of the first to understand the importance, has established itself successfully as an art in its own right. And even more so, as the easiest form of art to practice for everyone: you do not become a musician just like that; you can become a photographer just like that. Since then, photography has become a marker of our societies.
The current agony of Kodak tells more about our world than a whole bunch of theories: born in the 1880s in Rochester (New York, USA), the Kodak group has long been the world leader in photography thanks to the vision of its founder, George Eastman, who succeeded in bringing photography to the mainstream with very cheap cameras in 1888. Eastman participated in the invention of cinema with Edison, and then invented the first microfilm system. By 1973 the number of employees in the Kodak group had risen to 120,000 with Eastman. His first successors who had seen the digital technology coming, though, invented in 1975 by one of the engineers of the group, Steven Sasson, refused it, not wanting to cannibalize their revenue base from film, thinking that they would be retired before its impact. This was the case. The firm only resigned itself until far too late, after 2000, to come to this market. Hence, as a consequence of this: a cut of 87.5 per cent in its workforce (from 64,000 to 8,000 employees), decrease in its turnover by more than half, auctioning off 1,100 digital imaging patents. After the recent ruling of bankruptcy, Eastman Kodak Company is on track to emerge as a tiny firm, refocusing on business imaging solutions (including packaging and commercial printing), and for the cinema industry.
Lesson for all those who do not feel concerned about the long term.
Today there is another crisis brewing in photography: why buy a sophisticated camera, unless it is needed for professional reasons, when mobile phones deliver superb specifications, and can immediately send photos on sites like Instagram. This newcomer, which was created a little over two years ago, acquired by Facebook for nearly $1 billion, already has more than 100 million users (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn took respectively 4, 5 and 8 years to reach this size).
Also, after Kodak, it is all the producers of digital devices which are in danger of disappearing, in favor of these new entities related to data firms. Thus, for example, this new digital camera that will soon emerge which will immediately produce a paper copy of the photo and at the same time publish it on social networks such as Instagram. This « Socialmatic » will be marketed by a company holding a Polaroid license, which Kodak had refused.
Photography has a great future before it. Not only because each and every one of us will want to keep track of all those memories along life’s journey. But also for other reasons: for example as digital signature, which will allow, with morphological recognition, to identify every person you meet. Then will come new 3D devices; enormous progress will be made in optics; glasses connected to the Internet will become more common and will also be used as cameras. And photography will merge with film. Some occupations will no longer exist, such as paparazzi. Others will emerge such as managers of these database.
In a time where everything is so fleeting, photography will continue for a long time to give to each one of us, an illusion of eternity.