Cameras from the Technology Collection
From the world's largest collection of cameras, the evolution of photography is illustrated, -- including the camera that shot the flag-raising at Iwo Jima, the only complete NASA Lunar Orbiter, and a Technicolor movie camera that filmed many MGM classics ... plus many cameras that you and your family used to own! George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, the world's oldest photography museum and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 as an independent, non-profit museum. It combines the world's leading collections of photography and film with the stately pleasures of the landmark Colonial Revival mansion and gardens that George Eastman called home from 1905 to 1932. The Museum is a National Historic Landmark. Mr. Eastman, the founder of Eastman Kodak Company, is heralded as the father of modern photography and motion picture film.
George Eastman House
World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the Museum is also a leader in film preservation and photograph conservation, educating the top archivists and conservators from around the world.
Mr. Eastman (1854-1932) built his home at 900 East Avenue between 1902 and 1905. He created a unique urban estate complete with 10.5 acres of working farm land, formal gardens, greenhouses, stables, barns, pastures, and a 35,000-square-foot, 50-room Colonial Revival mansion with a fireproof structure made of reinforced concrete.
Mr. Eastman's house presented a classical facade of decorative craftsmanship. Beneath this exterior were such modern conveniences as an electrical generator, an internal telephone system with 21 stations, a built-in vacuum cleaning system, a central clock network, an elevator, and a great pipe organ, which made the home itself an instrument, a center of the city's rich musical life from 1905 until Eastman's death in 1932.
Mr. Eastman's will bequeathed his estate to the University of Rochester for 10 years. His close friend Rush Rhees, then president of the university, resided here until 1935, succeeded by the Valentine family. Following World War II, the university transferred the estate to a board of trustees, which formed to establish a museum of photography, attracting precious artifacts from around the world to a center of study, care, and exhibition.
The George Eastman House Museum of Photography was chartered in 1947. Today the Museum's full name is George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film. The Museum's mission from the outset was to collect, preserve, and present the history of photography and film. The Museum opened its doors to a diverse public audience in 1949, displaying its core collections in the former public rooms of Eastman's house.
The Museum's original collections-including the Medicus collection of Civil War photographs by Alexander Gardner, Eastman Kodak Company's historical collection, and the invaluable, massive Gabriel Cromer collection from France-attracted significant additions over the next 40 years. Entire archives, corporate collections, and artists' lifetime portfolios have been donated to the Eastman House, as well as a staggering assemblage of rare motion pictures and ephemera.
The Archive at George Eastman House.
By 1984, the Museum's holdings were considered among the world's finest. However, with the collections growing at a rapid pace, the Museum increasingly suffered from its own success. With an increasing number of materials to store, protect, and study, space and financing became critical.
Between 1985 and 1988, more than $30 million was raised for capital improvement and collections care. Eastman Kodak Company led the way, challenging the public with an endowment gift worth more than $17 million. Public contributions of $12.5 million provided for the construction of a state-of-the-art archives building, including a study center and exhibition galleries. The archives building is 73,000 square feet of climate- controlled vault, archival, research, and gallery space, much of it built below ground, with restored historic gardens above.
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