1888Reputable sourceWell documented
Kodak and the Snapshot
On the timeline · around 1888 ·
What happened
George Eastman's Kodak camera of 1888 came pre-loaded with a roll of flexible film for 100 exposures. Customers simply pressed the button and mailed the whole camera back to be developed and reloaded — 'You press the button, we do the rest.' For the first time, anyone could take photographs without any technical skill.
Why it matters
Eastman put photography into ordinary people's hands and invented the snapshot. Roll film also made possible the motion-picture camera, and the amateur photographs of billions of people became a vast record of everyday life.
Sources
- George Eastman Museum. From the Camera Obscura to the Revolutionary Kodak · Reputable source
Related timelines
- History of Film → — Roll film also gave birth to the motion picture