Billed as "The World's Largest Photographs," Eastman Kodak's 18-by-60-foot Coloramas brought photography to the masses with a spectacular display of communicative power. Initially conceived of in 1949, Kodak proposed to project gigantic slide images onto the wall of Grand Central Terminal. When lighting conditions proved inhospitable for projection, gigantic, backlit color transparencies were produced instead. For its entire forty-year run in Grand Central, the Colorama program presented a panoramic photo album of American scenes, lifestyles, and achievements from the second half of the twentieth century. During this period of growth and optimism, Americans sought to expand their worldview: the baby boom began, suburbs became the modern lifestyle, and jet planes shrank the world's travel dimensions from days to hours. The powerful message of national well-being and wholesomeness presented in the Coloramas - with images by some of the most notable American photographers of the time - was seen by half a million people per day until the 1994 renovation of Grand Central ended the program.
Produced in association with George Eastman House, Colorama explores the history of these colossal images, including the amazing advances in camera, film, and processing technology that enabled their production. Each of the most striking images is beautifully reproduced, making them available to those nostalgic for American life in decades gone by, as well as people with a personal connection to the original display in Grand Central Station.
- ISBN10 1931788448
- ISBN13 9781931788441
- Publish Date 1 October 2004
- Publish Status Temporarily Withdrawn
- Out of Print 19 June 2009
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Aperture
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 80
- Language English