George Eastman

George Eastman, an American entrepreneur, contributed to imaging through the many innovations developed by the company he founded, Eastman Kodak.

In his early twenties, Eastman became interested in photography and began experimenting with photographic dry plates, and in 1881 he founded the Eastman Dry Plate Company. Sensitized gelatin coated paper negative in roll form was patented in 1884 and was sold as American Film. With this advancement, photographers could eliminate the use of cumbersome glass plates.

Kodak’s flexible film stock was used by Thomas Edison and his colleagues in their early motion picture film experiments and prototypes. By the turn of the century, Kodak was the primary supplier of 35mm film to the burgeoning motion picture industry.

In 1913 George Eastman founded the Kodak Research Laboratories. The innovations from these Laboratories may be the greatest contribution Eastman made to the field.