Eastman Kodak (commonly known as just Kodak), one of the pioneers of photography, has filed for bankruptcy this week, after chief executive, Antonio Perez, made the announcement. The fact that the 131 year old company is facing financial difficulty may not come as a surprise to many.
Kodak had its last boom in 1996 when shares were $80 apiece. But with the development of the digital age, some of Kodak’s products have become redundant. Previously, Kodak almost had a monopoly on photography film in the United States, but most people have switched to digital cameras, instead of the traditional cameras that use film. As a result, Kodak has had to work hard to keep with the technological trends in photography.
It has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, meaning it is not shutting down, but it will just become leaner. CEO, Perez, wants to be able to pay off creditors, and work on focusing Kodak on key elements of the company that are still relevant in today’s digital age. Some of the items that Kodak hopes to expand on are faster, more flexible consumer and commercial digital printers and its top quality printing ink. It also has 11,000 patents, so it can recover from licensing fees as well.
Though Kodak will still be around, its bankruptcy does illustrate how much people and photographers alike have moved away from traditional photography methods and truly embraced digital photography. For some people, who are feeling nostalgic for the bygone days of taking photographs and having no idea what they look like, then experiencing the excitement of collecting the prints and going through each photograph as a trip down memory lane, it signals the end of an era.
But photography has continuously been changing, even during the century-long existence of Kodak, and the growth of the digital age is just another transformation, which will be followed by other changes still. Photographers as artists and documenters are able to use the changes as they wish, as well as continue using old methods in their art.