Name: 柯達是如何發明 "快照 "的 (How Kodak invented the “snapshot”)
Uploaded: 2024-09-28T17:00:28.000Z
Duration: 6 min 16 s

In 1888, the Eastman Kodak Company rolled out a new camera, and a new slogan.

1888 年，伊士曼柯達公司推出了一款新相機和一個新口號。

您只需按下按鈕，剩下的就交給我們吧。

To say this moment revolutionized photography would be an understatement.

如果說這一刻給攝影帶來了革命性的變化，那未免太輕描淡寫了。

但這個故事不僅僅與柯達有關。

It's about what happens when a powerful technology, originally only understood by a select few, can suddenly fit in your hand.

它講述的是，當一項原本只有少數人才能理解的強大技術突然可以拿在手中時，會發生什麼。

The photography processes developed in the mid-1800s required a mastery of chemistry, timing, and light to achieve a successful result.

19 世紀中期開發的攝影工藝需要掌握化學、時間和光線，才能獲得成功的效果。

Becoming a photographer meant training on complicated equipment like big, bulky cameras loaded with glass plates coated with photosensitive chemicals.

成為一名攝影師意味著要接受複雜設備的培訓，比如裝載著塗有感光化學品的玻璃板的笨重大相機。

Not to mention the expertise needed to develop images in a darkroom once a photo was taken.

更不用說在暗房裡沖洗照片所需的專業知識了。

Professionals set up shop in photography studios and offered their specialized skill set to a paying clientele.

專業人士在攝影工作室開店，向付費客戶提供他們的專業技能。

Getting your photo taken was often a pretty serious, rare occasion.

照相往往是一件非常嚴肅、罕見的事情。

It was a handheld box camera preloaded with a relatively new, lightweight invention.

這是一臺預裝了相對較新的輕型發明的手持盒式照相機。

One roll in this camera could shoot 100 photos, each cropped in a circle.

這臺相機的一個膠捲可以拍攝 100 張照片，每張照片都裁剪成一個圓圈。

The results weren't nearly as sharp or detailed as professional equipment could produce, but they were photos, taken, for the first time, by people with little or no previous knowledge of photography.

這些照片的清晰度和細膩程度遠不及專業設備，但它們是首次由對攝影知之甚少或一無所知的人拍攝的照片。

When you were done, you mailed the whole thing off to Kodak, and they mailed you back a camera with a freshly loaded roll of film in it, ready to shoot, along with your processed and printed photos.

完成後，你把整個過程郵寄給柯達，他們就會給你寄回一臺相機，裡面有一卷剛裝好的膠捲，可以隨時拍攝，還有經過處理並打印好的照片。

This was just the beginning of people using photography to tell their personal stories.

這只是人們用攝影講述個人故事的開始。

They organized their printed Kodak photos into albums, to document their travels, and their daily lives at home.

他們將柯達打印的照片整理成相冊，記錄他們的旅行和日常生活。

People took portraits of each other, but also candid street scenes.

人們互相拍攝肖像，也拍攝街景。

The casual nature of these photos, made possible by how quickly the Kodak No. 1 could take pictures, showed natural smiles and people at ease.

由於柯達 1 號的拍攝速度非常快，是以這些照片的隨意性很強，展現了自然的笑容和人們的自在。

In comparison to the portraits done in professional studios up to this point, which often had longer exposure times and a more formal setting.

在此之前，在專業攝影棚拍攝的肖像通常曝光時間較長，場景也更為正式。

Kodak photos came to be known by a word that, up until this point, was used in hunting, and referred to a quick shot with a gun, without aim, at a fast-moving target.

在此之前，"柯達照片 "這個詞一直用於狩獵，指的是不瞄準快速移動的目標，用槍快速射擊。

Owning a Kodak No. 1 would set you back $25, or the equivalent of more than $800 today.

擁有一臺柯達 1 號需要花費 25 美元，相當於現在的 800 多美元。

So while photography was changing, it was still well out of reach for most consumers.

是以，儘管攝影技術正在發生變化，但對於大多數消費者來說，它仍然遙不可及。

The real breakthrough in amateur photography came a little more than a decade later, when

業餘攝影的真正突破是在十多年後，當時

A simple box camera made of cardboard encased in faux leather, the Brownie cost $1 in 1900, or about $38 today.

布朗尼相機是用硬紙板包裹人造革製成的簡易盒式相機，1900 年的售價為 1 美元，約合現在的 38 美元。

And whereas the Kodak No. 1 was marketed toward the upper-middle class, the Brownie, at least at first, was marketed toward children.

柯達 1 號面向中上階層，而布朗尼，至少在一開始，是面向兒童的。

Brownie users loaded their own roll of Kodak film into the cameras, which, according to this Kodak trade circular announcing the camera in February 1900, originally cost $0.15 each and were good for six square exposures.

布朗尼相機的用戶將自己的柯達膠捲裝入相機，根據 1900 年 2 月發佈的柯達貿易通告，每卷膠捲的原價為 0.15 美元，可用於六次正方形曝光。

And it wasn't just children using Brownies.

使用布朗尼的不僅僅是孩子們。

Once people realized these cheap point-and-shoot cameras designed for kids actually took pretty good photos, adults started carrying them around too.

當人們意識到這些專為兒童設計的廉價傻瓜相機確實能拍出不錯的照片後，成年人也開始隨身攜帶。

And by the time the updated No. 2 Brownie came out in 1901, these handheld cameras were everywhere.

到 1901 年更新的 2 號布朗尼相機問世時，這種手持相機已隨處可見。

By the end of 1905, more than 1.2 million cameras had been sold.

截至 1905 年底，共售出 120 多萬臺相機。

Kodak advertised relentlessly in the early 1900s, branding their automatic cameras as crucial for capturing fleeting moments as lasting memories.

20 世紀初，柯達公司不遺餘力地進行廣告宣傳，將其自動照相機打造成捕捉稍縱即逝的瞬間和永恆記憶的重要工具。

And the role of the camera as a record of one's personal travels and small moments at home that began with wealthy hobbyists in the late 1800s became central to Kodak's branding in the 20th century.

而相機作為個人旅行和家庭小時刻的記錄工具，始於 19 世紀末的富裕愛好者，在 20 世紀成為柯達品牌的核心。

For over 100 years, people have trusted their memories to Kodak film, America's storyteller.

100 多年來，人們一直將自己的記憶託付給柯達膠捲--美國的故事講述者。

The company dominated the consumer-level photo and film development market for over a century after its Kodak No. 1 box camera came out.

在柯達 1 號盒式照相機問世後的一個多世紀裡，該公司一直主導著消費級照片和膠片沖洗市場。

But by the mid-90s, a competitor from Japan, Fujifilm, had begun to eat away at the American photo giant's market share, including in the sale of cheap, disposable cameras.

但到了 90 年代中期，來自日本的競爭對手富士膠片開始蠶食這家美國攝影巨頭的市場份額，包括廉價一次性相機的銷售。

But that ultimately wasn't what pulled the plug on Kodak's supremacy in the film and photo industry.

但是，柯達在膠片和照片行業的霸主地位最終並沒有是以而瓦解。

The 4 Meg Nikon Coolpix 4300, Sony Sleeper Shots, Canon PowerShot digital cameras.

400 萬像素的尼康 Coolpix 4300、索尼 Sleeper Shots 和佳能 PowerShot 數碼相機。

By the early 2000s, digital photography had outpaced film photography among consumers, and Kodak's relevance began to fade.

到本世紀初，數碼攝影在消費者中的地位已超過膠片攝影，柯達的相關性開始減弱。

The first digital camera was actually invented by a Kodak engineer in 1975.

第一臺數碼相機實際上是由柯達公司的一位工程師於 1975 年發明的。

But the company, which from the beginning had built itself on selling and processing film rather than manufacturing cameras, didn't make the change soon enough.

但這家從一開始就以銷售和沖洗膠片而非製造相機為生的公司，並沒有很快做出改變。

By the peak of the digital camera era in 2010, Kodak had fallen far behind in market share.

到 2010 年數碼相機時代達到頂峰時，柯達的市場份額已遠遠落後。

They filed for bankruptcy in 2012, later re-emerging with a focus on digital printing services rather than film development.

該公司於 2012 年申請破產，後來重新崛起，將重點放在數字印刷服務而非膠片沖印上。

Of course, film photography never fully died.

當然，膠片攝影從未完全消亡。

But the cost of film, which now caters to a somewhat niche market of dedicated hobbyists, keeps going up.

但是，膠片的成本卻在不斷上漲，而膠片現在只能滿足一些業餘愛好者的小眾市場需求。

And with the days of the ubiquitous one-hour photo business now behind us, amateurs without access to a darkroom mail off their photos for processing, just like the earliest days of roll film cameras.

隨著一小時照片業務無處不在的時代已經過去，沒有暗房的業餘愛好者也會將他們的照片郵寄出去進行沖洗，就像最早的捲筒膠片相機一樣。

Kodak will probably never again be the industry giant it once was.

柯達可能再也無法成為曾經的行業巨頭。

但它的遺產就在我們的口袋裡。

This idea that you don't need to be a professional to take a picture started right here in 1888.

這種 "拍照不一定要專業 "的理念始於 1888 年。

Really quickly, before you go, we have something we're excited to tell you about.

真的很快，在你們走之前，我們有一件興奮的事情要告訴你們。

It's the best way to support our journalism.

這是支持我們新聞工作的最佳方式。

As a Vox member, you'll gain greater access to our award-winning newsroom and have your curiosity sparked by our new member-only benefits.

作為 Vox 會員，您將有更多機會訪問我們屢獲殊榮的新聞編輯室，我們新推出的會員專享福利將激發您的好奇心。

Please consider becoming a Vox member today.

請訪問 vox.com slash memberships 加入。