Kodak

This past week we have been spending a lot of time with the folks from the George Eastman House as we are partnering with them at Chautauqua, and sharing a space with them. Right now the Eastman House has an exhibit of Kodak Coloramas on display. Coloramas are panoramic photos, 18 feet by 60 feet that were on display in New York City's Grand Central Terminal from 1950 to 1990.

Seeing their exhibit pamphlets got us thinking. We wanted to stage a large group photo in Bestor Plaza with guests of Chautauqua. Re-creating a Colorama seemed like a good idea.

We positioned a Chautauqua staff photographer on a ladder and asked everyone to gather in the plaza.

We were happy to see so many people show up for the photograph.

Here is a video on the making of our own Chautauqua Colorama.

Kodak's Steve Sasson is at Chautauqua to share the story of inventing the world's first digital camera. We caught up with him for a Lawn Chat before the day began.

Everyone was excited to see the camera. Here Steve is showing it to fellow Chautauqua speakers, Margaret Geller and Steve McCurry.

Steve had a great talk where he walked throught the development of the world's first digital camera. He had many interesting facts and trivia. The lens on the camera came from a motion picture camera and it took 16 batteries.

Steve had the actual camera with him and after the talk people crowded around to take pictures of it.

Here are some interesting detail shots of the camera...

The On/Off switch.

The shutter button.

The storage cassette.

A sticker to make sure the camera finds its way back to Steve!

As part of Photo Week at the Chautauqua Institution we are conducting a Photo Scavenger Hunt. Let me tell you - people here are REALLY getting into it!



We wanted to come up with something was:

• fun,
• incorported elements of the idyllic Chautauqua grounds,
• used photos (of course!),
• and would be a challenge

We created a scavenger hunt made up of letters from various signs throughout the grounds. The task is to find the 32 different signs that spell; "PHOTOGRAPHY CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION"

Since Chautauqua is a place of learning we thought it would be a great opportunity to share some photo tips and stories with visitors during what we are calling Photo Chats.

Shruti shared tips to help guests capture their week at Chautauqua through photography. She encouraged them to try things like taking pictures of signs, look for themes like "Dogs of Chautauqua" and to be a director when shooting a photo with people in it.

Many of Shruti's tips can be found on the Kodak Tips & Projects Exchange.

I did a session called Creative Photography Unleashed by the Internet. The goal was to demonstrate how the internet has made viewing photography more accessable and show examples of creative and unique photo projects that are online.

The attendees of this Photo Chat were eager to see more of these photos so I agreed to share the links to them in a blog post. Enjoy!

Experimentation

Through the Viewfinder

Toss the Camera

Upside Downy Face - Bruton Stroube

Family Tree/Age Maps - Bobby Neel Adams

Street Art Photography

 

Remembering

My Parents Were Awesome

Looking Into the Past

Then Me Now Me

GHOST TOWN Chernobyl Pictures

Diego Goldbert: The Arrow of Time

Noah K Everyday

Oldest Living Things in the Qorld - Rachel Sussman

 

Collections

Squared Circle

Cats on Ladders

Collection a Day

 

Tongue in Cheek

Fallen Princesses - Dina Goldstein

The Dark Lens (Star Wars) - photographer Cedric Delsaux

Superheroes - Dulce Pinzon

Classics in Legos - Mike Stimpson

Photographer: Alison Greenwood

I was looking around my kitchen for food to take pictures of, when I spotted my vine tomatoes in the fridge. The bright red colour really attracted me. So, I splashed one with some water, grabbed my point and shoot and placed the tomato by a window. Just goes to prove you don't have to use special equipment to take amazing photographs.

I hope you are all having a great summer!