Since it was first displayed in May 1950, over 600,000 people saw the Kodak Colorama each day in New York’s Grand Central Station. From baseball games, and weddings, to NASA’s landing on the moon and of, course those famous 15 babies, the Kodak Colorama evolved from an advertisement for color film into an American tradition that lasted for over 40 years. Though many of the pictures for the Colorama became world famous, the artists, technicians and photographers, many of whom were located in Rochester, were largely unknown to the public.
With unprecedented access to the photographic archives of Eastman Kodak and the creative team themselves, this documentary reveals the inspirations, the struggles and the achievements, behind the “World’s Largest Color Transparency”.
This documentary premiered as The Kodak Colorama: The Stories Behind the Pictures, Wednesday, March 9, 2005 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV 21 (cable 11), a PBS affiliate in Rochester, NY. Re-aired September 13 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV (DT21.1/cable 1011 and 11) in 2010.
Telly Award Winner 2005
We would like to update this beautiful program to the level that the Coloramas deserve – high definition. It will cost about $5000 to upgrade the historical footage, interviews, and photographs. Stay tuned for ways you can help.
Colorama: The Stories Behind the Pictures 