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Like all production aspects of a capitalist society, the photography industry is subject to a constant (economic) drive to expand. It has to expand its markets continuously to attract new customers for its products and constantly has to offer new products (innovations) to satisfy the customer’s desire for consumption and to remain competitive in relation to other companies.

The industrial production of devices used for photography started in 1888. Georg Eastman (Kodak) constructed a box camera which was relatively cheap and sufficiently easy to use to reach a broad range of people interested in photography. This allowed “Kodak” to corner a large share of the photography market. New technology allowed the camera to be improved and made in large quantities, so that in the thirties a worker could already afford a camera (in 1930 Agfa came out with its box camera for 4 RM and sold 3 million devices within a few years).

This steady expansion continued after World War II. Photography became even easier with the “Instamatic” (again from Kodak) and the Kodak Disk Camera. It also became even cheaper and more profitable for the corporations (whether Kodak or Agfa, an Instamatic camera was available starting at 20 Deutsch Marks). In addition, the “top models”, initially conceived only for the professional market or highly engaged amateurs (the Nikon F-series, for example), typically mirror-reflex cameras packed with “automated” features, also had strong sales. That is, they enjoyed increasing popularity on the basis of specific advertising strategies (which will be discussed later).

As a result of this expansion pressure, nowadays almost everyone has a camera in their hands at some point in time. This provides the subject in society with a means of production.

“Photography is the first portrayal media which is available to the masses. The industry’s drive to expand on an economic level can only gain access to the necessary consumers by making photography better and cheaper. This allows the economic quantity to turn into a social quality. The people gain access to an impartial method of production, which provides many possibilities. In 1975 70% of all German households owned a camera. They exposed around 85 million films, that is, 2 billion pictures” (Günter, Roland 1977).