Historic Cooke Archive of original documents and photographs donated to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Historic Cooke Archive of original documents and photographs donated to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

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Brie Clayton April 13, 2021

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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

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