
Historic Cooke Archive of original documents and photographs donated to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
data-src=https://creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/avatars/263018/5fa08c562aaf4-bpthumb.jpg data-srcset=https://creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/avatars/263018/5fa08c561c0e7-bpfull.jpg 2x class=lazyload avatar avatar-80 photo height=80 width=80 />
Brie Clayton April 13, 2021
0 Comments
The collection dates from 1886, and covers development of lens design for photography and film through the 20th century.
Cooke Optics, the award-winning manufacturer of precision lenses for film and television, has transferred the Cooke Archives, an historic collection dating from 1886, to a new permanent home at the Margaret Herrick Library, the main repository of research materials of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, located in Beverly Hills, California. The Cooke Archives, which includes documents, photographs and audiotapes cataloguing the rich history of Cooke lenses as well as the wider development of the film and photography sectors, will be available for research purposes.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/13194633/CookeTestChart-1024x811.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2407976 data-srcset=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/13194633/CookeTestChart-1024x811.jpg 1024w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/13194633/CookeTestChart-300x238.jpg 300w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/13194633/CookeTestChart-768x608.jpg 768w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/13194633/CookeTestChart-624x494.jpg 624w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/13194633/CookeTestChart-50x40.jpg 50w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/13194633/CookeTestChart-100x79.jpg 100w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/13194633/CookeTestChart.jpg 1200w data-sizes=(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px />This is the stylized test chart that Taylor, Taylor & Hobson had made to test the crispness and clarity of their new Cooke Triplet lenses. The background is covered with glowing testimonials signed by photographers.
The collection includes original letters from H. Dennis Taylor, inventor of the famous Cooke Triplet patent of 1893. Taylor designed the first five Cooke lenses using his new technology that for the first time solved the problem of astigmatism uneven definition, particularly with softness at the edges and achieved sharpness throughout the image plane. The remarkable correspondence shows the emotional political situation that erupted over the Cooke patent between the lens competitors; the design was deemed so good that competitors took the stance that it couldn't be true.
The Cooke Optics archive is an excellent addition to the archival holdings of the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library, providing comprehensive documentation of the firm's contributions to a fundamental motion picture technology, spanning the entire history of the cinema itself. We are honored to have been chosen as the permanent home for this important collection, said Howard Prouty, Manager, Acquisitions, Margaret Herrick Library.
In the film world, Cooke lenses were famously instrumental in the advent of talking pictures', which needed faster lenses to capture restricted light, since the traditional arc lights were too noisy to have on sets while recording audio. Cookes are also documented as contributing to the success of the original Technicolor colour process.
data-src=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/13194654/The-New-Era-booklet-cover600-562x1024.jpg alt= class=lazyload wp-image-2407977 data-srcset=https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/13194654/The-New-Era-booklet-cover600-562x1024.jpg 562w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/13194654/The-New-Era-booklet-cover600-165x300.jpg 165w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/13194654/The-New-Era-booklet-cover600-27x50.jpg 27w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/13194654/The-New-Era-booklet-cover600-55x100.jpg 55w, https://gcs.creativecow.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/13194654/The-New-Era-booklet-cover600.jpg 600w data-sizes=(max-width: 562px) 100vw, 562px />Cover of booklet published in 1897 by Taylor, Taylor & Hobson offers illustrative proof that their new lens made from the patented Cooke Triplet construction gives superior image quality.
Our Cooke Archivist, Barbara Lowry, has spent years gathering together this important and comprehensive collection, detailing the very beginnings of what eventually became Cooke Optics and the early lens designs that would change photography forever, said Tim Pugh, CEO, Cooke Optics. We are incredibly grateful for Barbara's labour of love in collating this collection, and her recent retirement seemed like the right time to donate the archive to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Future generations of photography and film students can now appreciate the significant impact that Cooke had, and continues to have, in the photography and film worlds.
In addition, Cooke's photographic lenses captured images from many historic moments in the first half of the 20th century; original photographs survive from the infamous Shackleton expedition of 1914-16, and Cooke lenses were used exclusively by British and US armed forces for cartography and photo-reconnaissance during World War II. The acclaimed American photographer Ansel Adams also shot many of his most famous images using a Cooke lens.
While the original archive is now in its new home, two history sections remain on the Cooke website. The Cooke Compendium at https://cookeoptics.com/t/compendium.html features some of the earliest stills and cine lenses, while a history of how t
Most recent headlines
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
19/04/2025
SDVI, the leading platform provider for cloud-native media supply chains, today announced that the company earned multiple awards at the 2025 NAB Show, with two...
19/04/2025
Ateliere Creative Technologies, a leading GenAI media software solutions company, today announced that Dan Goman has stepped down as CEO and David Bortis, Ateli...
19/04/2025
As Director of Media and Aerial Production at Terrible Herbst Motorsports, Bryan Moore is setting new standards in off-road racing media coverage thanks to his ...
19/04/2025
A next-generation collaboration device that redefines connectivity for meeting environments
Lightware, an industry-leading manufacturer of signal management so...
19/04/2025
Calrec is today announcing that its True Control 2.0 is a Remote Production winner in the 2025 NAB Show Product of the Year Awards. This official awards program...
19/04/2025
Appear, a global leader in live production technology, proudly announces it has been recognised alongside NBCUniversal with the prestigious NAB Show Delivery Pr...
19/04/2025
Deity Microphones, a leader in innovative audio equipment, is proud to announce the expected release of our Ultra-Wide Band IFB to the market. The THEOS DIFB wi...
19/04/2025
A world renowned broadcaster and long-standing LiveU customer has successfully completed a series of live connectivity tests using LiveU's revolutionary, aw...
19/04/2025
BitFire (bitfire.tv), a longtime leader in live video transport, today announced dual NAB Show award wins at the 2025 NAB Show in Las Vegas. The company's M...
19/04/2025
BitFire (bitfire.tv), a longtime leader in live video transport, today announced three major award wins at the 2025 NAB Show, April 5-9, in Las Vegas. The compa...
19/04/2025
AI video discovery company Moments Lab and Satisfaction Group, a leading independent unscripted television production company, are proud to announce a unique st...
19/04/2025
As the media industry navigates the triple challenge of AI-driven production, distributed teams, and skyrocketing content demand, DigitalGlue s creative.space h...
19/04/2025
Network technology startup Miri Technologies Inc. capped off its tremendously successful NAB Show debut by winning two prestigious industry awards for its cutti...
19/04/2025
CINCINNATI Scripp's Nuvyyo USA has concluded a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to bring 45 FAST channels to Nuvyyo's Tablo TV device....
19/04/2025
In a ruling that could have broader implications on the legality of regulatory agencies levying fines through administrative proceedings, the 5th U.S. Circuit C...
19/04/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr has blasted Comcast over MSNBC's coverage of the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in a so...
19/04/2025
Berklee NYC and NYC Media Launch Season 3 of Inside Power Station @BerkleeNYC This season features faculty member Arun Pandian as the new host and interviews ...
18/04/2025
Director Andrew Ahn, alongside actors Youn Yuh-jung and Joan Chen, takes a photo of the audience after the premiere of his film The Wedding Banquet at Eccles ...
18/04/2025
In a ruling that could have a major impact on the digital advertising market, a federal judge has ruled that Google has monopolized some types of advertising te...
18/04/2025
Broadcast and cable TV news outlets saw strong social media growth in March, according to new data from the social video analytics company Tubular Labs ....
18/04/2025
Berklee Student Yukai Yang Named 2025 Yamaha Young Performing Artist The drummer secured a spot among the elite winners in this years competition.
By
Maddie...
18/04/2025
Boston Conservatory Alums Bring Real Women Have Curves to Broadway The Latin American immigrant community takes center stage in a new musical featuring Tatian...
18/04/2025
WASHINGTON The FCC's call for public comments and suggestions on outdated regulations that it should be eliminated, has prompted a slew of fillings from bro...
18/04/2025
In a ruling that could have a major impact on the digital advertising market, a federal judge has ruled that Google has monopolized some types of advertising te...
18/04/2025
PEARL RIVER, N.Y. Global media solutions company Active Media Services (AMS) has formed a new relationship with VideoAmp, a measurement company for linear TV, c...
18/04/2025
Netflix reported generally positive results for first-quarter 2025, with revenue up 13% year-over-year to $10.543 billion and operating income growing by 27% to...
18/04/2025
NHL Playoffs 2025: TNT Sports Hits the Road for Onsite Productions With Mobile U...
18/04/2025
EVSs S bastien Verlaine on U.S. Expansion, Next-Generation Products Beyond replay, offerings also target asset management and media infrastructure By Ken Kersc...
18/04/2025
ESPN Unleashes 4DREPLAY as NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships Hit ABC Men's championships to follow Saturday night on ESPN2 By Brandon Costa, Direct...
18/04/2025
Visualizing Victory: The Latest in AR, XR, and Virtual Production in Live Sports This panel discussion featured leaders from ESPN, CBS Sports, Warner Bros. Disc...
18/04/2025
NHL Playoffs 2025: With 16 Games in First Six Days, ESPN Deploys Variety of Remo...
17/04/2025
Emilie Blichfeldt attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of The Ugly ...
17/04/2025
R-GPS gives warfighters a decisive battlefield advantage by punching through adv...
17/04/2025
This year's NAB Show in Las Vegas marked a noticeable shift in the priorities of media and broadcast organisations. Gone are the days of chasing flashy, or ...
17/04/2025
class=attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail f-align-center alt= decoding=async data-lazy-srcset=https://www.antonbauer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Amy-Daniel-1...
17/04/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Roku and Adobe have announced that they are collaborating on a real time data platform made possible by a a new integration of the Roku Data C...
17/04/2025
NEW YORK Internet advertising revenues demonstrated strong growth in 2024, increasing 14.9% year-over-year to $258.6 billion, according to the IAB Internet Adv...
17/04/2025
SDVI Earns Both Product and Project of the Year Awards at 2025 NAB Show
Brie Clayton April 17, 2025
0 Comments
Left to right, Geoff Stedman, CMO, SDVI...
17/04/2025
Singapore Polytechnic Readies Aspiring AV Professionals for Live IP Productions ...
17/04/2025
Calrec Wins 2025 NAB Show Product of the Year Award for True Control 2.0
Brie Clayton April 17, 2025
0 Comments
Image: The Calrec True Control 2.o on ...
17/04/2025
In Return to Berklee, Lucius Looks Back and Moves Forward From mood boards to live demos, the alumni band gave students an exclusive look at the process behin...
17/04/2025
DirecTV's free streaming service MyFree DirecTV has just added another eight channels from NBCUniversal....
17/04/2025
LOS ANGELES The virtual production company GameChanger has announced that it is expanding its global footprint by bringing its virtual production technology to ...
17/04/2025
DENVER The International Broadcaster Coalition Against Piracy (IBCAP) has announced that it has developed a proprietary, automated software-based system to iden...
17/04/2025
Pixalate's new CTV Device Market Share report for Q1 2025 shows that Roku has the highest open programmatic CTV device market share in the United States, wi...
17/04/2025
Edward J. Lewis III Named Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement Lewis has more than 20 years of industry experience, leading fundraising initiati...
17/04/2025
The Curling Group Puts On Inaugural Curling All-Star Game in Nashville The location in Music City is intended to broaden the sport's appeal By Dan Daley, ...
17/04/2025
April 17th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Announces TV & NOW Lineup
World Premieres and Exclusive Cast Panels with Apple TV '...
17/04/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Cisco's Bryan Bedford on Providing End-to-End Support for Clie...