JPG Magazine: Stories: Feature Story: The Death of An Art

The Death of An Art

By Gray Vincent

8 March 2008

It is official; Polaroid film is being discontinued. Though some may see this as a way to bring in the new, more of us believe it is the death of a tradition, death of a man's legacy, death of an art...

We all remember as a child; we didn't want our picture taken by a lousy 35mm one-use camera we get from the local pharmacy, we wanted those giant, often frightening, Polaroid cameras. We wanted to see the picture develop! We wanted to see it magically go from stale gray to vivid life-like yet artistic colors of the shot that was just taken moments ago! More so, we wanted to be able to hold the actual print (which is where Polaroid surpasses the appeal of digital photography); its indestructible frame, its practical yet innovating size. C'mon, we all have had, at one point in our life, Polaroid pictures hanging up on the wall in our bedroom.

The Polaroid legacy began almost 80 years ago, when Edwin H. Land created the first synthetic sheet polarizer in 1929. What must have been going through Land's head at the time; he discovered something that would eventually change the face of photography for half of a century. In a short period the Polaroid became known world wide, first with its roll film, then magically, it threw the peel apart films to the public: T-87 and T-88 in 1971. All you did was take the photo, pulled out the print, waited a minute or so, peeled it apart, and you've got a durable and beautiful print. That, of the many successes of Polaroid, were about to be blown away by what came next.

Back in 1943, Edwin's daughter asked him why couldn't she see the print develop in her hand, this put Edwin on a journey that would last him 29 years. In 1972, the Polaroid company unveiled the SX-70 camera; which landed a cover on Life magazine titled "A Genius and His Magic Camera". The SX-70 shook the world of photography by its feet. Like its later cousin, the 600 film, the print developed directly on the print after it was ejected from the camera within 1-2 minutes. Sales from the SX-70 went out the roof, even with its later models; 5,000 SX-70s were produced daily along with 50,000 sheets of film and in 1973 alone 1 billion instant prints were made. In 1991, the 600 film and cameras were released, the film we all buy and use (for now).

Of course, with the coming of the digital-age of photography, Polaroid sales have been going down ever more so. Maybe there is a reason to stop the film. Polaroid could put more interest in digital photography, but to me, Polaroid is better than digital photography in so many ways: durability, appeal, and tradition. Polaroid film will last as memory in years to come. One day when all there is left is digital cameras, we may be searching through old doors and come across an old Polaroid print and we will all remember how we were all in awe of how the print developed in our own hands. We will feel a sense of nostalgia that digital can never give us. Polaroid film will never be forgotten.

Report a Problem

VOTE: Should this story be published in JPG?