We all know the Polaroid Instant Camera, a point and shoot capable of delivering a printed photo in about 60 seconds. That was pretty instant in 1948 when the first Polaroid camera went on sale to an eager public – the craze of snap & share was born, long before Facebook & Instagram flooded our mind & social media lifestyle. I remember the sheer feeling of wonder every time I used on of these cameras growing up, seeing the image I just took fade in right before my eyes seamed like magic & indeed I think it was.

The effect of Edwin Land’s instant camera has influenced the future of how we use photographs, no waiting weeks for your 35mm film to come back from ‘the lab’ to see if anything came out good. An influence that is prevalent in todays culture more than ever. However with that rise stemming from the digital camera’s ability to deliver instant, all be it on screen, photos to a wide audience Polaroid sales fell sharply resulting with the closure for the factories in 2008. Since then there have been a growing group of fans who are working to save this very, historically important, format from extinction.

 

Now Polaroid has reborn the format with a new range of cameras that print to a photographic card much like Fuji, with their own instant film & cameras. The Impossible Project continue to supply instant film being the only ones delivering in the original format.

You can find out more on the Time Zero Movie here

 

• Leave a comment cancel