Happy Leap Day everyone Unfortunately, something that will not be returning in 4 years is Polaroid film It has only been a couple of weeks since the company announced they would no longer be making it I listened to another story about it today on NPR Not only is that huge Polaroid camera amazing, but I also found some of the comments interesting in the story.
“Dorfman says the “seduction” of the digital camera ” the ability to take picture after picture until snapping a good one ” does not mean it’s actually a better process.
“The person is more on if they know they only have a few shots,” she says.”
I think this highlights an important aspect in image making that maybe will get lost in the digital generation Slowing down Just because repeated pixels are ‘free’ – doesn’t mean we don’t owe the capture sufficient time for contemplation I don’t like that it is applied as a blanket statement towards digital, because it isn’t an equation, that one equals the other But I have certainly seen it myself, a shutter drive blasting away on a flash card with comments to the effect of ‘I am sure I’ll get one good one in there.’ Being methodical can apply to any medium, and the medium doesn’t have to mean. sloppiness.
“They’ll never know what it was like. If it is the end, it will be a truly gigantic shame for future generations,” he says.”
. This made me think about how I started with 35 mm film, and I have shot Polaroids, but I didn’t really know what it was like for something like photographic plates or daguerrotypes It certainly would have been interesting to me to have shot on different formats, but I don’t really know if I feel any loss from it.
Digital instant prints are coming soon as a replacement from Polaroid, but I doubt we will see anything like Elsa’s camera in digital form anytime soon Can you imagine a digital sensor the size of that huge polaroid camera?! I think there will continue to be demand for instant prints Many travel photographers rely on polaroids for handing out prints as gifts to their subjects in remote places For me, I always feel that an image isn’t in its final resting place until it has been printed It is nice to see that perhaps the end of one era will be replaced by simply a different one – the tradition isn’t lost in the change of medium.
As a child I dreamt about becoming a photographer. I had to save up my allowence to buy film and processing so each shot was precious.
I remember seeing a TV show about a professional wildlife photographer once. The big scene for me was him standing in a pool of water shooting some small water bird swimming on the surface. He was using film back then, but he had a power winder and man was that thing cranking. He just waded along following that bird with his finger down solid on the button. Whir, Whir, Whir, Whir…
I thought if only I had a budget like that, I could really get somewhere.
Well, many years later I’m still earning my living by doing something other than photography and these days I can just hold the button down if I want to, but I don’t. This may work for documentary wildlife type shots, but not much else.
Certainly digital is making photography more accessible to the average person and once in a while someone shoots something decent by dumb luck, but I think that on the whole not much has changed. Really thoughtful artistic inspiring images still come from hard work, knowledge, and imagination just like always.
MDW
I think that neither shooting slow or shooting fast is inherently better than the other. Each has their benefits and problems. Shooting slowly allows you to be careful, meditative. But it can also lead to over-analysis. Shooting fast might make you careless. But it can also free you from your critical mind and be more impulsive. Both methods have their place.
I know someone who used to paint on polaroids before they dried. It was actually more like scratching away some of the wet material than painting but made some interesting and unusual “painted photographs”.
My first camera was a Polaroid One Step. I thought it was neat to have the image right away (I still do with digital!). I quickly realized how limiting the lens on those things was, especially for wildlife. I won’t miss Polaroid cameras, but I don’t like that those who had continued to make great images with them will lose out.
Gads…I remember those old Polaroids. Then again, I grew up learning to type on a manual typewriter!
Hey Mark, I think some people are just concerned about creating the best posible image they can, and aren’t really worried about how they got there. Others will take the time to learn the process of shooting a proper image, and they get a high from knowing they have the skill to get the job done without firing away hoping for the perfect image. I think I have learn the proper skills, and in most cases will take limit shots of an image and it will work out fine. But its also nice knowing when you find that really special composition, you can bracket exposure, f/stops,and even the white balance to make sure you get that perfect photo without the thought of spending a lot of money on wasted film.
That video is a great find. That camera is great. Can you imagine trying to take it out in the field LOL
I’ve been mulling over my thoughts on the news about Polaroid discontinuing their instant film since the announcement. I do think it is a loss. For future generations it won’t seem like a loss as it’s something they’ll never have known. If you don’t miss something it can’t be considered a loss.
As I see it…. it’s not just the film, but peripheral techniques like the Polaroid Transfer technique that also need to be accounted for in the loss. New techniques will be around the corner, but in the mean time I do lament the loss of the technology that likely inspired digital photography.
As for digital photographers being less selective. I tend to agree. While in Yosemite this weekend seeing how people operate with their cameras was eye opening. I’m still putting my thoughts together on the subject. I’m sure the topic will likely surface soon enough on my blog.
I just listened to this news story today on my ipod, it was chosen as the NPR story of the day. Funny coincidence that I then caught up on my blog reading tonight!
As Jim says, that movie is amazing! I also agree that the film will be missed, but at the same time the only constant is change. All we can hope is that some specialty company will license the film and continue to make it.
I know one market that will miss the film is the scrapbooking crowd. My sister does this and she bought a Daylab last year to do image transfers using the polaroid film. I hope she’s stocking up…
Elsa Dorfman is a Boston area photographer, I’ve seen her work in a many places, mainly her portrait work. The print quality of the portraits was beautiful – they were around 3×2 feet. Dorfman was very professional in her visual approach to image making, got great results, vividly caught the personality of her subjects. The ragged edges of the pull from the Polaroid film gave the images a hand-made look.
It was great to see the camera in the video!