Robert Shanebrook can be reached at:
makingKODAKfilm@yahoo.com
In May 2026 I will be presenting a webinar on "Making KODAK Film" to the Vienna-based Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine.
My "papers" and my book have been accepted by the Rarebooks and Manuscripts Library of the University of Rochester. They have established the Robert L. Shanebrook Collection as part of the Eastman Kodak Company Collection. I am humbled and honored that my items will be archived with items created by:
Mr. George Eastman, Founder Eastman Kodak Co
Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees, founder Eastman Kodak Research Laboratories
Dr. Rudolph Kingslake, Head of Kodak Optical Design and Professor Emeritus University of Rochester
Mr. Raymond DeMoulin, my mentor for over 30 years and President, Kodak Professional Photography Division.
In November 2021 I was interviewed. It is on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u27vaWvhOs&t=43s
or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u27vaWvhOs
Bob Shanebrook graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology and worked at Eastman Kodak Company for 35 years before retiring in 2003. At Kodak he worked as an industrial photographer, optical researcher, product development engineer, film manufacturing manager, company spokesman for Professional Films, and for more than twenty years was a Worldwide Product-Line Manager for Kodak Professional Films.
In 1969 he worked on the Apollo Lunar Surface Close-Up Camera that was flown on Apollo 11 to 15. He also
worked supporting the USA's Reconnaissance Satellites Gambit-Cubed and Manned Orbiting Laboratory. He has knowledge of US film-return satellite imaging systems.
He worked in Kodak Apparatus Division Research Laboratory where he worked on image evaluation, liquid crystals for imaging, and other electronic imaging devices. He moved to Kodak Photographic Technology Division to design heat-processable films, microfilms, x-ray films and processors, and camera films including leading the project that became T-Max Films.
Beginning in 1981, he became engaged in nearly all aspects of Kodak's black-and-white and professional color film business. As Worldwide Product-Line Manager he was heavily involved in designing, manufacturing, and commercializing photographic products including:
Polyfiber Paper
Polyprint RC Paper
Polycontrast III RC Paper
Elite Fine-Art Paper
EKTAMAX Paper
T-Max 100, T-Max 400, and T-Max p3200 Films
T-Max Developer and T-Max RS Developer
T-Max Direct Reversal Processing Kit
Duraflo Developer
Technical Pan Film in 120 and sheets
Technidol LC Powder and Technidol Liquid Developers
Ektachrome Films: 100, 100 Plus, 64, 200, 64T, DUPE film
Process E-6 Chemicals
Q-Lab Process Monitoring Service
Kodachrome 200 Film and Kodachrome 64 in 120-size
Process K-14 Chemicals
Kodachrome Professional Film Processing Laboratories
Ektapress Films: PJA, PJB, PJC, PJM
Professional Internegative Film
Kodak Pro 100, 100T, 400, and 400MC Films
Ektacolor Pro-Gold 160 and Pro-Gold 400 Films
MIYABI, portrait film for Japan
Profoto, Pro Image, Image 100, Ultima Films
Portra Professional Films: 160NC, 160VC, 400NC, 400VC, 800, 100T, 400BW
Endura Metallic Paper
2002 Reformulation of: T-MAX 100, TRI-X 400, TRI-X 320, High-speed Infrared, and PLUS-X Films.
His technical photographic papers have been published by Association for Information and Image Management, Radiological Society of North America, Society for Imaging Science and Technology, and American Chemical Society.
He was instructed by and later worked on photographic projects with John Sexton and Ansel Adams.
At Kodak he won the Everest Award for Product Excellence and the Outstanding Innovation Award for film technology advancements. Also, the FA$T Award for AgX Leadership.
He won the International Leipziger Diplom for Kodak T-Max Films.
He was on the Board of Directors of the Friends of Photography, Carmel and San Francisco, California.
Bob consults in the fields of photographic technology and photographic history at George Eastman Museum, Rochester NY. and Rochester Museum and Science Center, Rochester NY and commercial and legal clients.
On behalf of the American National Standards Institute, ANSI, he is a voting delegate to International Standards Organization, Photography Technical Committee representing the USA in the fields of color and monochrome pictorial photography, aerial photography, and radiography.
He is an active member of The Photographic Historical Society that meets monthly in Rochester, New York. TPHS was founded in 1966. He has served as the technical chair of TPHS biannual historical symposium.
He and his wife of over 55 years Lynne, live and sail on Irondequoit Bay of Lake Ontario, near Rochester, NY. They have adult children, Stefanie and Adam and four grandchildren.
Robert and Lynne Shanebrook's support of George Eastman Museum has allowed the Museum to make additions to the collection including rare Kodak Film, Kodak Cameras and darkroom equipment. For example:
https://www.eastman.org/two-rare-rolls-early-kodak-film-acquired-george-eastman-museum#:~:text=Now%20a%20part%20of%20the%20museum%E2%80%99s%20internationally%20renowned,the%20camera%2C%20case%2C%20shipping%20box%2C%20and%20sample%20images.
He can be contacted at: makingKODAKfilm@yahoo.com
KODAK.com: "Robert Shanebrook is one of the World's foremost experts in making film products..."
KODAK.com: "There are two types of filmmakers - those who translate their visions onto film and those who design and manufacture the physical product. Robert L. Shanebrook, one of the world's foremost experts in making film products, delves into the world of film technology. His book provides an accurate, in-depth view of how film is made in a state-of-the-art factory. Anyone interested in photography and those wanting an education on the making of film will find his research fascinating."
"Bob Shanebrook managed many of the professional photographic film products and activities during his 35-year career at Kodak, including research, manufacturing, marketing, and Kodak's business. In a real way, this is the creator telling the story of creation as pertains to the making of film."
Quoted regarding Kodak Film Manufacturing:
The Street
French TV "Capital"
German National TV
New York Times
Wall Street Journal
der Spiegel
Gannett News
NBC
CBS
WXXI
Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
National Public Radio
British Journal of Photography
APUG
Popular Photography
Shutterbug
View Camera
Rundbrief Photografie
Photographica World
and many others.
The Rare Books and Collections Library of the University of Rochester has established the "Robert L. Shanebrook papers on photographic technology".
On September 15, 2022 I spoke to the International Association of Panoramic Photographers about the now declassified US National Reconnaissance Offices Film-Return Satellite Program that operated from 1960 to 1984.
On October 3, 2022, I was honored to speak at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Symposium establishing a National Historic Chemical Landmark: "George Eastman, Kodak, and the Birth of Consumer Photography". ACS bills me as "film manufacturing guru Bob Shanebrook".
On May 16, 2023 I monitored a 4-person IEEE panel discussing the operation of the US National Reconnaissance Offices Film-Return Satellite Program
Books are sold by: Robert L. Shanebrook
Rochester, NY 14622, USA
