DAY 212

HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Instant Photography

POLAROID PROVIDES INSTANT GRATIFICATION

In 1937, Harvard graduate Edwin Land, who had studied the nature of polarized light and polarization materials as a student, formed the Polaroid Corporation to produce materials for sunglasses, gun-sights and glare-free lights. Over time, his research gravitated into the study of light, vision, and, ultimately, photography. In response to his young daughter’s question “Why can’t I see it now?” while taking pictures, he began to experiment with the concept of instantaneous self-developing film.

In 1947, he formally presented the successful results of his work, and a year later, the Polaroid Land process was introduced commercially. A person could easily shoot and develop a photograph within a few minutes without chemical processing or any specialized knowledge of cameras. Polaroid photography quickly caught on with the public, making it enormously successful.

While it seemed extraordinarily modern, the concept behind Polaroid film actually dated back to the earliest days of photography: exposing a chemically treated surface, a “plate” (in the terminology of the old days) to light, and then allowing the photo-sensitive elements do their thing, resulting in a fully developed, fixed image.

Competitor Eastman Kodak introduced its own line of instant photography products but, following a barrage of lawsuits against them from Polaroid, they were forced to discontinue this element of their business. Polaroid introduced successful product after product for decades but stumbled at the dawn of the digital era and went bankrupt in 2001. After regrouping, however, it seems poised for a comeback. —DJG