Kodak and the Creation of Popular Photography: Explaining the Life and Death of an Icon

With Kodak's recent bankruptcy, a spectacular chapter in the history of photography has come to an end. However, contrary to most analyses that have been published, Kodak's demise was not caused by arrogance, ignorance or lack of technology or resources. Rather, it was Kodak's inability to come out of a world that it had created itself that proved to be its undoing. In this talk, I will walk you through the creation of the 'Kodak moment' and how Kodak's business was built around it. I will then explain why Kodak was unable to escape its past and adapt to the new, digital world.

About the Speaker

Dr Kamal Munir has been teaching at Cambridge Judge Business School since 2000. Dr Munir's research focuses on social change and stability, as well as innovation and technological shifts in society. Apart from publishing in leading academic journals, he is also a frequent contributor to newspapers and magazines including the Financial Times, The Guardian, Dawn and World Business. His work has been quoted and cited in several forums, including BBC's Hard Talk, Wired magazine and BusinessWeek. Dr Munir has also been a consultant to  private and public sector organizations including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Government of Pakistan, and Shell Petroleum among many others.

This talk is part of the Arcadia Project Seminars series.

All Welcome, but please RSVP to Michelle Heydon, at mh569@cam.ac.uk