Raymond DeMoulin papers

Collection

Identifier: D.398

Staff Only

Biographical/Historical note

Raymond DeMoulin is a retired Vice President of the Eastman Kodak Company. He graduated in 1954 from the University of Denver with a BS in Chemistry and was subsequently hired by Kodak's Photographic Technology Division as a Photographic Engineer. After a brief time with the Film Manufacturing Organization beginning in 1975, DeMoulin returned to the Photographic Technology Division in 1980 as Director, overseeing 800 employees. In 1984, however, Kodak underwent a massive and unprecedented corporate restructuring that resulted in the formation of seventeen business units, each with responsibility for their own product development and sales, as well as their own earnings. DeMoulin was named General Manager of the new Professional Photographic Division and elected Corporate Vice President by the Kodak Board of Directors.

Kodak's restructuring, intended to bring the company and its customers closer together, gave the concerns of professional photographers a new prominence in the Kodak community. Previously lumped in with the thousands of amateurs among Kodak's customer base, they now had the Professional Photographic Division created expressly for their interests and operating practically as its own company within greater Kodak. According to DeMoulin in a 1989 Rochester Times-Union interview, an independent PPD would actually rank No. 300 among the nation's Fortune 500 companies in terms of sales volume. By that time, DeMoulin, who had known little about professional photography when he took the job, had increased PPD's sales by over fifty percent, won numerous industry awards, and introduced twenty-eight new products. This he achieved by personally reaching out to serious photographers, elevating him practically to cult status in the field.

In 1990 the PPD founded the now-defunct Center for Creative Imaging in Camden, Maine to teach new photographers about conventional and digital photography. DeMoulin was named Director, but his thirty-nine-year career with Kodak ended when the CCI was sold in 1993. Since then, DeMoulin has been active as a consultant and in business ventures for new technology. Positions held since 1993 include Founder and President of the Media Photographers Copyright Agency (now part of the ASMP) and President and CEO of Foveon, Inc.

Scope and Contents

The papers consist primarily of domestic and European photography periodicals with articles about Mr. DeMoulin from 1987 to 1998. Also included is his account "Eastman Kodak Company and the Digital Revolution," written in 2009 in response to criticism of Kodak's reaction to the rise of digital photography.

Creator

DeMoulin, Raymond H. (Person)

Dates

Creation: 1986-2009

Language of Materials

English

Extent

.5 cubic feet (1 container)

Access

The DeMoulin (Raymond) Papers is open for research use. Researchers are advised to contact the Rare Books Special Collections & Preservation Department prior to visiting. Upon arrival, researchers will also be asked to fill out a registration form and provide photo identification.

Use

In consultation with a curator, reproductions may be made upon request. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from a curator. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Raymond DeMoulin Papers were donated by Mr. DeMoulin in July 2009.

Preferred Citation

[Item title, item date], Raymond DeMoulin Papers, D.398, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester