IMAGES FROM KODAK COLORAMA ERA RETURN TO GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL IN A SPECIAL EXHIBIT

Kodak Coloramas – the gigantic, panoramic advertising images that depicted “idealized” American life from 1950 to 1990 – dominated Grand Central Terminal for four decades. Promoted as “the world’s largest photographs,” the 18-foot high, 60-foot wide backlit transparencies towered over the Terminal’s main concourse in the space now occupied by the Apple Store. For the first time since the Kodak campaign ended in 1990, Coloramas return to Grand Central – albeit in more-manageable sizes – for a special exhibit at the New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex July 28 – November 1, 2012.

Thirty-six prints of original images will be on view in Grand Central. The prints – measuring up to two feet high and six feet wide – date from the 1960s, arguably the heyday for the Colorama campaign and the advertising industry overall, as well as a time of great social change in America. The images influenced the way Americans viewed photography and ushered in a new era of advertising. They are part of the international traveling exhibition created by George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, which holds the entire Colorama archive.

The Grand Central exhibit also features video footage of photographers with their photos, telling personal stories of creating and unveiling the huge transparencies, and details on how they shot the images.

New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex at Grand Central Terminal

Shuttle Passage, adjacent to the Station Masters’ Office

New York City, NY 10017