Photography Comes to the Masses

The invention of roll film and consumer cameras changed photography forever, and this short video from Vox tells how Kodak created the snapshot.

I feel like there should be a section devoted to the intermediate step of disposable cameras. These were huge when I was a kid and teenager, and they really were the last step before we had digital cameras (that would soon get displaced by our phones). We loved to have handfuls of them before school dances or big events, and there was this great anticipation of sending dropping them off for developing. Maybe you'd totally forgotten what you'd shot, so the developed photos were a revelation. Maybe you were dying for one in particular, that moment when you asked (all cool-like, so as not to let on there might be anything more to it) the pretty girl if she'd pose for a picture with you. Maybe you were shocked to discover you'd lost the camera at some point in the night, and there were photos taken by some mischievous friends. Either way, I still associate these memories with Kodak's gold-and-red color scheme, and I love what the company made possible: imperfect photographers creating perfect (if technically flawed) images with the best camera possible—the one you have on you when the moment strikes.

Fun fact: The name "snapshot" came from hunting, meaning "a quick shot with a gun, without aim, at a fast-moving target."