Photographic Industry

Cet article démontre que la gestion de l'innovation chez Eastman Kodak fut profondément modifiée entre 1880 et 1912. Son fondateur George Eastman évolua du statut d'entrepreneur inventeur contribuant directement à l'innovation de la firme à celui de coordinateur d'une nouvelle structure à partir de 1912. L'article souligne tout d'abord le risque endossé par Eastman à la fin des années 1880, ne pouvant compter que sur son photochimiste pour mettre au point en 1890 une nouvelle pellicule souple photosensible. L'article note ensuite la prise de conscience d'Eastman pour modifier en profondeur le modèle d'innovation chez Kodak, en créant en 1912 une nouvelle structure du savoir technique et scientifique, le laboratoire de recherche. Kenneth Mees, un scientifique britannique avec une expérience du marché photographique, prit la tête du laboratoire et mit en pratique ses théories sur l'organisation de la recherche. L'article conclut sur les bénéfices engendrés par le nouveau modèle d'innovation pour Kodak dans la recherche des procédés couleur, notant son évolution vers le concept récent d'innovation ouverte.

From flexible roll-film to photography in natural color: the evolution of innovation management at Eastman Kodak.

This article shows that the management of innovation at Eastman Kodak changed profoundly between 1880 and 1912. Its founder George Eastman evolved from the status of entrepreneur-inventor, contributing directly to the innovation of the firm, to that of coordinator of a new structure from 1912. This article first stresses the risk taken by Eastman at the end of the 1880s, counting only on his photochemist to develop in 1890 a new flexible photosensitive roll-film. Then the article points out Eastman's awareness to fundamentally change the innovation model at Kodak, by creating in 1912 a new structure of technical and scientific knowledge, the research laboratory. Kenneth Mees, a British scientist experimented with the photographic market, directed the laboratory and implemented his theories on the organization of research. The article concludes by underlining the benefits of the new innovation model for Kodak in color process research, noting its evolution towards the recent concept of open innovation. MOTS-CLÉS. Eastman Kodak, innovation, entreprise, laboratoire de recherche, recherche industrielle, industrie photographique.

My dissertation "Ferrania. Un’impresa, una rivista" deals with the Italian photographic company Ferrania and its cultural policies throughout the first half of the XX century, with a strong focus on contemporary published matters such as the amateur magazine «Ferrania». It aims at analyzing the intertwined relationship between the company’s technological development, its marketing strategies, its production of cultural contents, and the Italian amateur scene from the 1910s to the 1950s.

The dissertation includes two parts: in the first half, I track down the making of the most prominent Italian company in the field of film and photographic supplies. In the first chapter, I follow its history from the birth of SIPE’s explosive plants in Cengio and Cairo Montenotte (Savona) in 1915 to its takeover of other large companies in the 1930s, such as the Società Anonima Tensi and Società Anonima Cappelli, which led to the birth of Ferrania. In the second chapter, I reconnect Ferrania’s technological advancement to the turmoil that shook the European photographic industry after World War II. I also retrace how the dismantlement of the German production system, of which Agfa was part, had a key role in the development of the Italian photo industry. After the war, Ferrania was able to restart its production immediately to provide the Italian professional movie industry, hospitals, and printing workshops with photosensitive supplies. Moreover, I discuss the evolution of Ferrania communication strategies conceived to tackle new potential customers in the national market. The company undertook intense marketing campaigns to reach its new target – amateurs who were once Agfa buyers – by updating its visual style and tone of voice, and by establishing a new illustrated magazine called «Ferrania». As it strengthened its position in the national amateur market, Ferrania contributed to the photographic debate with a new cultural center, the Centro Informazione Ferrania in 1963. Simultaneously, sudden shifts and expansions in the global photographic industry brought the company to financial struggle and managing uncertainness, resulting in the transfer of the holding to the American company 3M in 1964. That was the end of an era and of a decade of cultural policies aimed at strengthening Ferrania’s reputation.

In the second part of the dissertation, I illuminate the relationship between industrial photographic magazines and amateur photographers and home movie makers, zooming on the Italian scene from the 1910s to the 1950s. In chapter three, I discuss the notion of industrial photographic literature, which includes every kind of printed matters by photographic supplies manufacturers both as promotional materials and as technical support. I outline stereotypes and models of a technical but literary genre, well spread from side to side on the Atlantic Ocean by the Eastman Kodak Company and the Agfa. In chapters four and five, I analyze a group of industrial photographic magazines for amateurs, such as: «Note fotografiche» Agfa (1924-1942), «Notiziario fotografico» Olivetti (1940-1946) and the early issues of «Ferrania» (1947-1949). By showing the continuous thread that connects aesthetics, technics, and visual practices throughout those pages, I highlight the connection between industry, amateur clubs, workers’ leisure time organizations, and intellectuals and artists in the Italian photographic scene from 1925 to 1949.

Negli anni del boom economico, in Italia Ferrania era sinonimo di fotografia. L’azienda riuscì ad imporsi sul piano commerciale grazie alla modernizzazione delle strategie di marketing e ad un’intelligente politica culturale. Il mensile «Ferrania», pubblicato dal 1947 al 1967, ne fu lo strumento principale in grado raggiungere il pubblico medio. Nonostante fosse nato per promuovere materiali e novità in casa Ferrania, sin dalla fondazione il periodico intese superare lo schema del bollettino industriale, fondendo insieme il modello della rivista aziendale e del notiziario da gruppo amatoriale.
«Ferrania» si propose come magazine dall’ampio spettro culturale dedicato alla fotografia, alla cinematografia e alle arti figurative rivolto ad un pubblico di dilettanti appartenenti ad una classe borghese in espansione. Poté contare sulla collaborazione di nomi di rilievo in molteplici settori delle arti visive come gli artisti Carlo Carrà, Domenico Cantatore, i critici d’arte e cinema Glauco Viazzi, Mario Verdone, Giuseppe Turroni, Fernaldo di Giammatteo, Ando Gilardi. In ogni numero gli amatori disponevano di articoli firmati da esperti divulgatori di tecnica fotografica come Alfredo Ornano, Guido Pellegrini, Mario Bellavista.
Per circa un ventennio le pagine della rivista ospitarono un dibattito vivo – a tratti aspro – sulla maturazione estetica e sociale dell’immagine fotografica con particolare attenzione al contesto italiano. Dal 1963 la medesima discussione venne promossa dall’azienda nel proprio centro culturale, il CiFe (Centro Informazioni Ferrania). Il centro condivideva a pieno con «Ferrania» le funzioni e ambizioni di incentivare la cultura amatoriale e incrementare la notorietà del marchio. A questi sforzi si mise fine verso la conclusione degli anni Sessanta, quando la multinazionale americana 3M prese controllo dell’azienda ed espanse il mercato oltre i confini nazionali.

Che cos’è il mensile "Ferrania"? Assimilata spesso ai bollettini delle società di fotografia amatoriale, "Ferrania" si distingue per origine e funzioni nel panorama dell'editoria fotografica italiana ad essa contemporanea. Il mesile nasce nel dopoguerra con il sottotitolo “rivista di cinema fotografia e arti visive” in seno all'ufficio commerciale dell'omonima ditta produttrice di pellicole Ferrania. Rivista aziendale promozionale ma anche strumento d'informazione amatoriale, "Ferrania" si prefigge di diventare un osservatorio sulla fotografia italiana dell'Italia del boom e un centro di promozione della cultura dell'immagine. Sin dall'inizio le sue pagine diventano un collettore di articoli promozionali, istruzioni pratiche, riflessioni estetiche, informazioni internazionali, articoli di critica cinematografica, notizie di libri, film e mostre, aggiornamenti sulle attività dei circoli amatoriali, raccolta di still frames da film famosi, ritratti di dive, fotoreportage. "Ferrania" è un prodotto culturale complesso nel quale confluiscono esigenze di mercato e di pensiero molto diverse, che per vent'anni si incrociano in nome di un obiettivo comune: l’armonizzazione tra cultura umanistica e cultura scientifica alla base dell'aspirazione al progresso.

In the early 1980s, the introduction of coloured filters by the French company Cokin influenced the aesthetics of amateur analogue photography, up to the progressive development of digital photography at the turn of the 2000s. The possibility of overcolouring analogue colour photography was due to the development of a small scale industry of filter and filter-holder making. My talk will discuss how the photographer Jean Coquin, founder of the Cokin company, conceived the so called “Creative Filter System” from his own experience and use of colour photography. The first catalogue of Cokin, illustrated with photographs principally made by Coquin, was a meaningful and powerful marketing tool to promote coloured filters through a growing network of resellers.
The prompt commercial success of the company among amateur photographers in the 1980s was first possible because the filter-holder system was easy to use and universal. Secondly, on the industrial side, the production of coloured filters was standardized and my talk will clarify how the science of colouring and the internal know-how were fundamental for the company to ensure the homogeneity of production. This technical ecosystem produced a peculiar amateur photography full of coloured skies and optical effects, anticipating the use of digital manipulation.