1854-1932

American industrialist who devised a carefree system of photography. Eastman began by manufacturing dry plates for the emerging field of photography in America (1880) and recognized the potential for amateur photography with his marketing of the simple Kodak box camera (1888). With the Kodak camera, the use of celluloid film rolls (1889) and the child-friendly Brownie (1900), Eastman dominated the marketplace in photography and shared his resulting wealth by making several philanthropic gifts.