SKIERS TAKING SNAPSHOTS VERMONT 1951

Launching this collection were giant images by Kodak, in the hall of Grand Central Station in New York, which the firm used at the time to proclaim its photographic omnipotence. Used as advertising tools in the legendary Manhattan train station from 1950 to 1990, the plastered images were transparent and backlit, with exceptional dimensions spanning 18 metres wide by 6 metres high. This was a first in the world of photography. Through their spectacular, almost surrealistic stagings, these panoramas became communication tools in service to the promotion of the brand’s film and cameras. In true soap-opera style, for over 40 years Kodak Colorama Display staged the story of ideal families with exemplary lives, without contradiction or contestation. In other words, the very expression of the post-war American dream, in its most pleasant and universally adoptable form.