POLAROIDS OF MAY - PART 1
© 2020 SuZan Alexander. Polaroids of May - Granny’s Square Shooter. Digital Photography
Did you ever wonder what happened to those instant cameras that were all the rage in the 1970’s and 1980’s? Do you remember all those great commercials with James Garner and Mariette Hartley? (HERE) Me too!
Granny’s Camera
A few years ago, I inherited my grandmother’s Polaroid camera. I remembered a technique I read about and thought it would be fun to try this artistic technique with the vintage camera. But, I soon discovered that the film was all but unavailable. What happened? Those cameras and it’s magic film was everywhere. How did I miss the scuttlebutt on what happened?
However, since I have a plethora of unfinished projects, UFOs I call them, I spent a moment or two lamenting the passing of another childhood memory and moved on without much additional thought.
The Book
Fast forward a few years. On a visit to the re-sale book store (you know the store, right? Half Price Books is a magical place for a bibliophile), I found a book on the shelf in the art section: INSTANT: THE STORY OF POLAROID by Christopher Bonanos. And, when I say I “found” it, I mean I had never heard any hype surrounding the book, which is not surprising since I didn’t know the film was gone.
Based on the title, I thought it might be an interesting read since I knew very little to nothing about what happened to the Polaroid company or the ubiquitous cameras of my youth. All I know is finding film or a new camera was near impossible. So what happened?
Boy, oh boy, were there life lessons, business lessons, marketing lessons, and quite a story packed in this little book. I looked forward to reading each night until, uh oh!, was I really finished reading the entire book already? But, wait, I hadn’t made any notes or tagged pages to reference. Yikes! I wish I had taken notes so I could share some of the thoughts this book inspired.
All I can say is that I’ve already admitted how I love it when Art and Science collide. Well, this work was the Art-Science cocktail I love.
The Polaroids of May
So, this year, I am celebrating the “Polaroids of May” with all things Polaroid here on my blog, as well as my Instagram. I have even started re-reading the book I mentioned so I can share a few interesting factoids with you.
I hope you will come back on Wednesday when I share another story from this series. I’m also trying something new over on Instagram this month, so I hope to see you there as well.
In case you missed the previous posts, we are celebrating the Polaroid camera with the “Polaroids of May”.
As part of the Polaroid celebration, I posted a blog post each Wednesday (previous posts are “Featured” below), AND, I am also posting a 27-day “grid” over on Instagram that is inspired by this vintage camera.
But, for now, let’s talk about a few reasons why the Polaroid was so popular.