Pixiq

From 1950 through 1990 these huge panoramic images decorated the east balcony of New York’s Grand Central Terminal and were viewed by millions of commuters who walked by over the years.  These oversized photos were 60 feet wide by 18 feet high and were developed by Eastman Kodak Company to promote picture-taking. And who wouldn’t be impressed by the power of this impressive, well-executed display.?

The Colorama grew out of the success Kodak had experienced with large slide projections at the 1939 World’s Fair, so when they were asked to present a plan for commercial use of the terminal’s east balcony, Kodak marketing decided that an oversize image was the way to go. But due to the high ambient light in the terminal, slides could not be projected, hence the huge backlit transparency was born! A custom enlarger was build and over 450 feet of negative film was used to produce each Colorama transparency, which was put together in panels. Later improvements refined the process so less panels were necessary.

Check out this interesting exhibit through October 17^th at the George Eastman House, located in Rochester, NY. For more information, click here.