George Eastman

Hello! My name is George Eastman. A long time ago, back in the 1800s, I loved looking at pictures. But taking a photograph was very, very tricky. The cameras were as big as microwaves! To take a picture, you also needed lots of bottles of gooey stuff. It was a big, messy job, and not many people could do it.

I thought, 'Taking pictures should be easy and fun for everyone!'. So, I got to work in my workshop. I wanted to make a camera that was small and simple to use. After trying for a long time, I created a new camera in the year 1888. I called it the Kodak. My idea was simple: 'You press the button, we do the rest.' All you had to do was point the camera and click a button. When you were done, you sent the whole camera back to me to get your pictures!

I wanted even kids to be able to take pictures of their fun times. So, in the year 1900, I made a little box camera and called it the Brownie. It was very easy to use and did not cost very much money. Soon, families everywhere could take pictures of their picnics, their pets, and their smiling faces. It made me so happy to see everyone saving their special memories.

I lived to be 77 years old. Today, when you take a picture with a phone or a camera, you are using an idea I helped start a long, long time ago. I am remembered for making photography simple, so that anyone in the world could capture a special moment and share it with love.