? Instant by Christopher Bonanos, Princeton Architectural Press, 192 pages, $27.95.
It was revolutionary. It was a new art form. It was accessible to the masses. Polaroid technology was all this and more.
In 1948 Edwin Land offered the public the instant photograph but it would take awhile to catch on. By the Sixties the Polaroid was part of popular culture and had been embraced by dozens of well-known artists who were using it to produce new and exciting work but it was Andy Warhol who took the camera to new levels. Later on Warhol's camera of choice, the SX-70 offered various opportunities to manipulate the results and opened up creative channels for the Pop Art icon.
As the R&D team at Polaroid continued to push the capabilities of their products, new inventions regularly emerged like the Type 55 film that produced a negative or the large 20" x 24" format film.
Before the success of the instant camera Land had already scored big with the development of polarized lenses and other patents. By the end of his career Land held 535 US patents.
The comparisons between Polaroid and Apple come up often in the book and are easy to make. Both companies skyrocketed to success under the leadership of visionary men who had created a unique product. Unfortunately bankruptcy was Polaroid's final financial statement. Currently there are new owners of the Polaroid brand and their projects are largely focused on 3D television.
Christopher Bonanos has researched the company archives as well as numerous news sources and conducted many interviews to piece together this interesting look at one of the most creative companies of the modern era.
