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Leaving school at 14 his $3 a week wage as a message boy would help support his
mother and two younger sisters a little and start his journey up the ladder. Through hard
work and study – by 1874 through hard work and study, he reached the position of clerk
in the Rochester Savings Bank on $800 per year. At this point George decides he could
afford a hobby – a friend suggests perhaps – photography? “Yes! that sounds
interesting, what equipment would I need to take a photo?” Let’s see ---.

In 1874 the Wet Plate Process required the photographer –having first setup his camera
on a tripod to capture the desired image – to then enter the portable darkroom tent or
cart that he must have with him – to prepare the glass plate on which the image is to be
captured – firstly by coating it with a Collodion base before coating on the light
sensitive chemicals needed to capture the image. Then insert the Wet Plate into a light
tight plate holder to carry same to the camera for the photographer to make the
exposure. Having done that – the Wet Plate must be immediately returned to the dark
room tent to be developed and fixed before the Wet Plate dried – otherwise the image
would be ruined. This procedure must be repeated for every photo taken. A process
eventually mastered by the young
George Eastman– “But surely there must
be a better way.” There was and he found
it.

1874 was still the Wet Plate era where taking a photograph in the field – away from the studio – required a
portable Dark Room in the form of a tent or a cart that contained all the equipment needed and some very
toxic chemicals that were carried in glass or stoneware bottles. The first task was to create a light sensitive
glass photographic plate in the darkroom. Then after exposing it in the camera you must develop, fix, wash
and dry it before the original coating dried. A cumbersome process to make a negative that could then be
printed back at the studio. As a 20 year old photographer, George Eastman had mastered this process and
achieved satisfactory results – but “why was it so complex – there must be a better way.” There was and he
found it by experimenting in his Mother’s kitchen. The high quality results he achieved in making dry plates
for his own use, soon reached the ears of local professional photographers and orders for a dozen plates
came flooding in. His Mum’s kitchen was very busy night and day.

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