This was my third time checking Instant: The Story of Polaroid
And I couldn’t put it down.
Christopher Bonanos does a great job of laying out the history of Edwin Land, the founder of Polaroid. In fact, this is really a biography of Land. But that’s understandable, since he was so intricately tied into Polaroid’s inception, rise, and (unfortunately) it’s fall. With the exception of the last chapter or two, this is really the Edwin Land story.
I had read that Steve Jobs had made several pilgrimages to visit Land, and Jobs viewed Land as one of his mentors. As I got deeper into Instant
Having spent a large portion of 2013 and a bit of 2014 reading about Steve Jobs, Apple, and Pixar it was fascinating to pick up a book that portrayed another company with a somewhat similar path. The primary difference between Polaroid and Apple seems to be that Apple was able to rise from the ashes, not once, but a couple of times. And today Apple appears to be going strong. By contrast, Polaroid is barely hanging on to life.
I grew up in the age of Polaroid.
That meant that I was among the first generation that was able to record and view our history while it was being made. I remember the distinctly vinegar smell of the chemicals that had to be sponged onto a B&W Polaroid photo. I remember taking several versions of the same family photo because somebody wasn’t properly in place. I remember passing around the photos immediately after taking them. Polaroids weren’t just a way of capturing a moment, they were a way of sharing that moment in the present.
I never really thought about being on the cutting edge of photography back in the 1960’s. I remember my Dad teaching me how to take photos with his Polaroid and then how to care for the pictures as they developed. I remember being clearing instructed to never touch the surface lest you would leave fingerprints and ruin the image. I remember carefully passing the snapshots from person to person at family gatherings, carefully touching only the edges…making the actual passing something of a party game.
Throughout the book, memories of those early days of my introduction to photography were given new life. While I was much more aware of the later models of the Polaroid cameras, I do have some memories of the cameras from their heyday. I clearly remember B&W photos from Dad’s Polaroid and I remember the fascination when we developed our first Color photos. Imagine that, you could actually take photos of the world in full color.
Looking back through an album of those old photos, the colors have faded somewhat. They were never really completely true-to-life, but today they add a very nostalgic tinge to every Polaroid. Trust me, the 1960’s and 1970’s weren’t really murky and a bit blurry…at least not the life that I led.
Another interesting aspect of Instant
Throughout the book, Land’s tenacity and genius are often highlighted. His attention to detail was astounding. I never realized that the bubbled areas on the top and bottom of the Polaroid photos were were the actual chemicals were housed that developed the photos. Frankly, I’d never thought about it. I imagined that the film cartridge actually held all the chemicals and that’s where the magic happened. Having spent countless hours in photo darkrooms developing and printing my own images, my level or respect for all things Polaroid rose immensely when I discovered that a tiny photo lab was embedded in each print. What an amazing feat of technology coupled with astounding engineering.
The book reminds me of other engineering companies that struggled with successfully marketing their products. Or more aptly, struggled with keeping up with the market. I worked for Texas Instruments for many years, and during that time I was intimately aware of the engineering culture there. Compaq computer was another company that lived (and died) by their engineering. National Semiconductor was another. And even the great Hewlett-Packard has struggled to convert their engineering prowess into market viability. All those companies have had success, and some have been the leader in their market…but technology has a way of moving on. Getting smaller, faster, and more capable. Instant: The Story of Polaroid
The book is a very easy read, and if you have any interest in the early days of instant photography, I would highly recommend it. If your curious about how a sole engineer, with a brilliant mind, can make a difference to an entire society…again, I’d highly recommend it. The story of Polaroid is intimately interwoven with the story of Edwin Land. Both are fascinating!
Sounds like an interesting book for any photography fans out there. I would never had thought if looking for this book but I do love a good photography book.
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