Last week, we shared that a company is creating a new folding instant camera inspired by the iconic Polaroid SX-70. It’s quite nice timing, then, that shortly after we saw that news, we stumbled on Mr. Polaroid, a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) documentary about Polaroid and its creator, Edwin Land.
The documentary provides a fascinating look into Land’s background, the history of Polaroid and the cultural importance of instant photography. It touches on how Land enrolled in Harvard at 17 but dropped out after only one semester. He moved to New York City in 1927, and soon after, developed polarizing filters intended to reduce headlight glare – though they were never used for that purpose.
Those polarizing filters were of significant importance to the military during WWII, which led to success for Polaroid. But Land knew he would need something new when the war effort was over. Photography became his new focus, and he dreamed of a camera that could give people a printed photograph on the spot, instantly. So, in 1943, he launched a secret project nicknamed SX-70. However, it wasn’t until 1969 that the prototype of what we now know as the SX-70 was created because of the project’s complexity.
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Edwin H. Land, founder, Polaroid Corp. Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, photograph by Bernard Gotfryd, [Reproduction number e.g., LC-USZ62-12345] |
The documentary takes us through the company’s history, including the public reveal of the first instant photograph (taken with an 8×10 view camera) and the camera models that came with further development. It was interesting to learn a little about Meroë Morse, a pioneering chemist at Polaroid, and how Polaroid was hiring women at a time when there weren’t many jobs available for women. It was also fascinating to learn that Land was closely involved with the CIA and the US military during the Cold War.
There’s a lot of information packed into the hour-long documentary, including where the Polaroid shake came from and some of the science behind instant photography. It doesn’t shy away from some of the controversy surrounding Land and Polaroid, either. It’s well worth a watch for instant photography fans and history buffs alike.