Submitted by Al …
(Adapted from The Encyclopedia of Photography ©1963)
Located in New York City’s Grand Central Station, the Eastman Kodak Colorama was one of the world’s most unusual photographic displays.
It was a giant 18 x 60-foot composite colour transparency which featured various panoramic scenes of American life.
More than a million people a week (both New York commuters & tourists) stopped to look at the Colorama.
Described as ‘The World’s Largest Photographs’, the display was located on the east balcony, and ran for forty years from 1950 to 1990. This composite transparency was backlit by more than a mile of cold cathode tubes using enough electricity to supply a village of 500 people.
Since the first Colorama went up in May 1950, the display has featured a variety of subjects. There have been scenes of jets roaring through a brilliant blue sky, men climbing mountains, people ice skating, children playing at the beach, a sleek new ocean liner gliding into New York harbour, a majestic castle, voters in a village voting precinct, and many others.
Over time, a total of 565 Coloramas were displayed, changing out every three weeks. These towering backlit transparencies often received an ovation from travelers whenever a new photo was unveiled.
In most cases, the photographers worked a year or more ahead in preparing a Colorama. They used one of Kodak’s special cameras, located in Rochester, New York City, Florida, and California, to make the original negative on Ektacolor film.
The camera took a negative 4 7/8” x 16 1/4”.
The negative selected was enlarged 44 times.
The final transparency was made up of 40 panels, each one 18 feet high but only 18 inches wide, and spliced together making a composite transparency equivalent to about 37,000 snapshots.
When completed, the transparency was wound on a special 18-foot spool.
Film, spool, and a special packing box weighing 1000 pounds were trucked
from Rochester to Grand Central Station in New York City. Once there, it took four specialists to remove the old transparency and then install the new one.
The Colorama advertising campaign ended in 1990 as Grand Central Station prepared for renovations that would restore the original architectural integrity of the landmark building.
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