Colorama: The World's Largest Photographs

Book Description
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. During its forty-year run in Grand Central Terminal in New York City, the Colorama program presented a panoramic photo album of American scenes, lifestyles, and achievements from the second half of the twentieth century. Produced in association with the George Eastman House Collection, Colorama explores the history of these colossal images. A selection of the most striking images are beautifully reproduced, making these images available to viewers nostalgic for American life in decades gone by, as well as people with a personal connection to the original display in Grand Central Station.



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"Everybody come over here and get in the picture" took on new meaning with Colorama, a system that created 18-by-60-foot photographs—big enough to display in one image, for example, the entire Irish Guard Pipe and Drum Corps, a gaggle of tourists, and, by the way, Windsor Castle. This image and 564 others in succession graced New York's Grand Central Terminal from 1950 to 1990, giving even the most grizzled urban commuter an eyeful of Machu Pichu or the Taj Mahal, with each shot prominently featuring a camera-toting enthusiast and at least one pretty girl. Most of the subjects were closer to home and touted the American way of life and so, in this much more ironic age, they are often inadvertently hilarious (e.g. a bouquet of football players' hindquarters framed by scenes of fans in the throes of demonic possession). Alison Nordstrom and Peggy Roalf provide thoughtful essays for the 50 images shown here in a much more portable format than that afforded by the originals. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


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