Skip to main content

Life at a Stand Still


Image result for instant cameraMost people know instant cameras as Polaroids which was a well know brand of instant cameras here in the United States. The instant camera was first invented by an American scientist named Edwin Land, who invented instant cameras to answer his daughter’s question on “Why can’t I see them now”, which I find very sweet. He created the Polaroid Model 95 in 1948, creating a huge success, and selling out in the first day. Polaroid would soon enter into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2008 and would cease to produce film and cameras (it is not until recently Polaroid started up production again). As you maybe have guess the increasing use of digital cameras brought the temporary end to the beloved instant cameras.


Image result for instant camera model 95Instant cameras, the official device of making every moment count, because it could be costly. This reminds me of a quote by one of the most famous Great Depression photographers, Dorothea Lange, in which she states, “One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you’d be stricken blind”,  and I definitely agree. This is especially true for any film cameras. Now we are able to snap a picture and if we dislike it, delete it. Before this was not so much the case. Before taking a picture was much like investing in the stockmarket, you HAD to be committed, to take a picture you had to make sure it was perfect, because it was a while until you got to see the picture. For example first the whole film had to be used up, second you had to deliver it in person, that is if you wanted the process to be faster, to a store and wait a couple of days to develop, then it was picked up or mailed. This was annoying to some people, thus the instant camera was born.
Instant cameras are very interesting on how they work because it is the film it self that does all the work. As the shutters open light is let through and exposed to the film. The film is set up in stacks, and each stack contains a layer of light sensitive colors. For example top layer is sensitive to blue light, middle layer to green light etc. As the film is pushed out and being “developed” the white starts to fade out and create the image, it is actually the acid from the top of the film causing a chemical reaction to provide a protective top layer.
Image from 'Land's Polaroid' by Peter C. Wensberg
Now it seems like the world’s youth are the ones enjoying instant cameras, which is not a bad thing. That means that the product or device is so well designed and simple to use, that they are enjoying it over digital cameras of now. It goes back to the statement I made with records, that sure we have digital technology that probably sounds or looks better, but there is something about analog that seems much more “real” to us than digital. And with film...well… it has greater meaning because those are the photographs you really want if you ever go blind.

FUNFACT: Polariod did not just produce cameras and film, they produced sunglasses too

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_camera
https://petapixel.com/2015/06/11/the-history-and-magic-of-instant-photography/
https://transatlanticdiablog.wordpress.com/2016/07/11/classic-camera-polaroid-instant-camera-7-facts-about-the-technical-revolutionary-item/

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 6, 2017 at 9:39 PM

    The blog was great this week! I sort of consider my self some what of an old soul and I have always been fascinated with older types of cameras and prefer them to modern cameras. So to understand the history behind these cameras was very enjoyable.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 7, 2017 at 12:49 PM

    Great blog and very informative. That being said I have always thought of Polaroids were a niche and expensive hobby rather than something that has become obscure.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dorito Power

Rotary engines, the official motor when burning oil is actually a good thing. The rotary engine or Wankel engine is much like chocolate ice cream in the car world, you hate it or you don’t. It is actually interesting concept because unlike other engine configurations, there is no cylinders. Instead they have a rotor which some claim to look like a Dorito spinning. The inventor of this odd engine was a Felix Wankel. Wankel was born in August 1902 in Lahr, Germany. He came up with the idea at the age of 17. It was only after 2 World Wars when he began working with NSU Mototenwerke in the research department without ever getting a degree or a driver license. He complete his design in 1954 and in 1957 and 1958 the prototypes were tested. In 1961 Mazda had contracted with NSU to produce the engine and install them in their cars. The engine was proven to be quite powerful in the 1960s and soon the engine was used by other car companies. The engine would began to lose its popularity in
3 comments
Read more

Automatic Safety

Automatic or passive seat belts, the great compromise between automakers and the United States government. Passive seat belts were one of those “safety” products that cause more harm than good for the end user. It was much hated by consumers and led to them only having a short life from 1990 to 1995. Now why were these seat belts a thing in the first place? Well the passive seat belts were invented by Volkswagen in 1972 and was first used in the Volkswagen Golf in 1975. This lead the Brock Adam, the United States Secretary of Transportation, to mandated that every car in to have either automatic seat belts or airbags by 1983. Now this angered many lobbyist who thought this was a way too soon of a deadline. In 1981 the mandate was dropped then transferred to the Supreme Court which lead to the mandate to stay, but now with an extended deadline of 1990. Now airbags were still a relatively new system which meant it was pretty expensive. Thus many car companies decided to go with pas
2 comments
Read more

Just My Type

Typewriter, the official device of that satisfying click sound from the movies. Typewriters were once a popular form of typing up essays and document in a clear and formal way in which regular handwritten documents could not replicate. Now they are relics of the past due to the rise of personal computers, allowing so much for functionality with less hoops to jump through. The first commercially produced  typewriters appeared on scene in 1874, but became widespread in offices until the mid 1880s. Throughout this time there has been many manufactures and companies who added improvements over time. Historians believes that the typewriter was invented 52 time in some form by other inventors and thinkers. This helped to create competition and develope many types of typewriters. The common mechanical typewriters works like this, the keyboard is in the same order as the keys on a computer or on a digital one on a cellphone. When a is press, for example the F key, a lever swings and
2 comments
Read more