Long before the iPhone, another inventive device allowed everyone to instantly chronicle their lives - the Polaroid camera. The product, and the company’s unique culture, would launch not only instant photography mania in 1948 but also become the model for today’s Silicon Valley tech culture. Mr. Polaroid tells the little-known story of the man behind the camera, Edwin Land. The documentary premieres through PBS on 19th May.
I never had access to Polaroid growing up but its branding and form factor was as iconic and recognisable as Kodak's red and yellow branding. It offered a covetable immediacy that was unique. I used various SX-70 in studio for a while on a Contax 645 and Mamiya RZ67 before Phase One digital backs saved you from the risk (and cost) of wasting a 110 or 220 roll of film. Part of its charm is the unpredictability and ethereal aesthetic of the image and in 2016, it was revived by The Impossible Project through Florian Kaps.
PBS has an established reputation for objective news reporting and a legacy of cultural programming and high-quality documentaries. Why the US administration would seek to deny funding and limit the continuation of their work, particularly given it is a major source of educational content for children is incomprehensible. If you value this resource, perhaps this will be of interest.
I suspect I'm going to want to order a Leica Sofort 2 after watching the documentary.
