Edwin Land and the Instant Picture

           The infamous Polaroid instant camera came out to the public market in 1947. Invented by Edwin Land after photographing his daughter who wanted to see the images right away, unchallenged, the camera was a success.² The Land Camera Model 95 was released in 1948 and even into 1949 retail stores were fighting over stock of the camera as they flew off shelves despite the expensive (for the time) $89.75 price tag.¹ The new device was a camera and darkroom in one, with roll picture paper including the proper developing chemicals within each slide to bond with the negative paper that would be loaded into the bottom of the camera. The picture paper’s internal chemicals would break and be released over the negative as was pulled through internal rollers within the camera. After waiting 60 seconds for the chemical process to occur, the photographer could open up the back of the camera and peel off the new sepia toned print. The by products of the process were then taken out of the camera and discarded. ^{2, 3} 

Land Camera Model 95
Picture Credit

            Edwin Land and Co. redesigned the camera/dark room combination with the introduction of film packs. While this seemed more like a camera invention rather than a film invention, these film packs allowed for the finished product to be pulled outside of the camera and develop on their own. This allowed the photographer to keep shooting while the film developed outside the camera, and also created a reusable negative (with the right type of film).^{3, 4, 5} Different kinds of film were also introduced at this time, with color coming onto the market in 1963 and other kinds of film that allowed you to choose if the picture would be in color or black and white. Unfortunately this process was still not a constant as external factors could drasticly effect the image such as the cleanliness of the camera rollers and temperature of the environment.^2,4  

Polaroid Swinger, used film packs
Picture Credit

            In 1972 Polaroid changed the land of instant photography again with the SX-70 camera. This time it was a step forward for the hardware and the film, in some ways bonding the two together. With this new integral film it added the negative sheet, picture paper, and chemical pod all in one. In order to combine all three parts a border around the picture was required (primarily to old the chemical pod), this would be the border that is commonly thought of today when mentioning Polaroid film. The other component with the film that made it integral was the inclusion of the camera battery within the film pack itself. It was a great idea at the time, to make sure the battery that powered the camera would never give out in the middle of a shoot. Until Edwin Land, himself, realized that not all batteries and battery companies were made equal when some film pack batteries started dying on him or were already dead when the film pack was ready to be used.^{2, 6}

Polaroid SX-70 used integral film
Picture Credit

            Polaroid was not without completion, in 1952 the Moment was introduced and in 1976 the heavy weight of Kodak entered the instant photography ring. Eventually, Polaroid filed a lawsuit against Kodak for infringing on patents, and officially won the suit in 1989 after Kodak was order to stop instant photography production in 1986.⁷ In 2001 Polaroid filed for bankruptcy, and along went down the instant photography ship. In 2008 the Impossible Project was formed and saved the last of the integral film factories in Enschede, Netherlands from extension. In 2010 the Impossible Project started re-creating instant film for use with Polaroid cameras, and currently lives on today.⁸

Bibliography

1. New Products: Pictures in a Minute (1949, May 30^th). Time Magazine Archives. Retrieved October 17, 2012 from http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,888022,00.html

2. Gustavson, Todd. (2009) Camera: A History of Photography From Daguerreotype to Digital (pp. 302-309). New York, NY: Sterling Innovation.

3. Science: Quick Birdie (1947, March 3^rd). Time Magazine Archives. Retrieved October 17^th, 2012 from http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,854668,00.html

4. Hedgecoe, John. (1984). The book of photography (pp. 222-223).  New York , NY: Alfred A Knopf.

5. Polaroid Company (1992). A guide to using Polaroid instant pack film. Retrieved October 17, 2012 from http://www.documentation.com/images/sample_projects/polaroid_instant_films.pdf 

6. McCraken, Harry. (2011) Polaroid’s SX-70: The art and science of the nearly impossible. Technologizer. Time. Retrieved October 17^th 2012 from http://technologizer.com/2011/06/08/polaroid/

7. Labaton, Stephen (1989, May 1^st). Business and the Law; Polaroid v. Kodak: Future on the line. New York Times Technology. Retrieved October 17, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/01/business/business-and-the-law-polaroid-v-kodak-future-on-the-line.html

8. The Impossible Project, (2012). Retrieved October 17, 2012 from http://www.the-impossible-project.com/about/