Picturing Equality: The Lambda Network at Kodak
Lambda members participating in the 1993 March for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal
Rights, Washington, DC. Even before they formally acquired official recognition at
Kodak, Lambda members met as a support group and participated in off-campus
events.
Amy Friend (left) and JoAnne Metzler, portrait taken at Lambda Photobooth, 2000.
Lambda brought its popular photobooth to local events, including Image Out and the
Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley’s Pride Picnic, as well as to national events such as
the annual Out and Equal Workplace Summit.
Lambda members and allies perform a skit based on the popular TV quiz show,
Hollywood Squares, at the 2002 Lambda Network at Kodak's Annual Education Event
with Management. At these events, Lambda members shared their first-person
experiences of being LGBTQ in the workforce, and informed managers of how they
could make Kodak a more inclusive and LGBTQ-friendly workplace.
Portrait of Lambda member Jim Ehmann and his partner, Brian, made by the Lambda
Photobooth at a 2002 Image Out film festival event. Kodak was a corporate sponsor of
Image Out, Rochester’s Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival (now the Rochester
LGBTQ+ Film Festival).
The Lambda Network at Kodak was the LGBTQ employee resource group that formed at the company’s Rochester headquarters in the early 1990s, when most queer workers were still closeted. Using never-before-shared archival documents, newspapers and magazines, photographs, video footage, and oral history interviews, Picturing Equality: The Lambda Network at Kodak explores how Lambda members changed Kodak’s corporate culture and benefit policies to be more LGBTQ inclusive. By sharing their first-person stories of the difficulties of remaining closeted in the workplace, Lambda members promoted understanding of the importance of LGBTQ rights. Annual educational events for leadership, as well as photobooths and portrait photography, also led to specific action that increased inclusion for LGBTQ employees. By centering photography in their activities, Lambda members closely tied their own organizational goals and identity to that of the Kodak brand.
Lambda’s influence extended well beyond Rochester, helping position Kodak as a national leader in LGBTQ workplace equality. With strong support from senior leadership, the group advanced inclusive policies, shaped public advocacy, and challenged corporate norms through both internal change and outward-facing representation. Its legacy endures in lasting institutional impact and in the continued human rights work of its members.
This exhibition is the result of the Remembering the Lambda Network at Kodak project, that, since 2021, has been documenting Lambda’s history and influence and the stories of its members. Begun by Lambda members Dan Sapper and Emily Jones in collaboration with Tamar Carroll of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) College of Liberal Arts, this project is located at lambdanetworkkodak.net/page/home.
About Gallery Obscura
The museum's community gallery, the Gallery Obscura, features exhibitions created or presented in collaboration with community institutions and school and youth programs, projects focused on Greater Rochester, and exhibitions from the collections that are thematically related to regional events or that support other museum initiatives and programming.
Exhibition Proposal Submissions
Please submit exhibition proposals for the Gallery Obscura to [email protected]. Proposals should briefly describe the project and include 6-10 sample images or links to moving media content. Because of the structure of exhibition scheduling, not all proposals can be considered. Single-artist and artist-organized exhibitions will not be considered.