A new era...

Today marks 80 years since the beginning of Polaroid. They stopped making instant cameras and film some years ago, following which some Polaroid enthusiasts bought the last remaining factory in an effort to continue the film. They called themselves the Impossible Project, as it was said to be impossible to resurrect/continue making Polaroid film, as many of the chemicals were no longer available, amongst other reasons. They succeeded, however, and managed to come up with a new formula for integral instant film. It was pretty hit and miss at first, but they have continued to improve the formula over the past nine years, to the point where it is pretty amazing. 

A while ago, they bought out the Polaroid brand and today they announced that Impossible will cease to exist; they have rebranded as Polaroid Originals, with a new camera launch and updated film formula. The camera doesn't interest me - it's a plastic point and shoot and could never compare to the SX-70 SLR camera, but it should appeal to a mass-market, meaning that film production will continue to improve (hopefully). They've also reduced the cost of the film, but sadly not for UK customers (rumour has it this is a result of our pre-Brexit economy - another reason to hate the fact that we are leaving the EU).

It's a pretty historic day in the world of instant photography and I find myself wondering what Dr Edwin Land, Polaroid's founder, would make of it all.

If you're interested to learn more, there is a great documentary (available on Amazon prime and presumably other streaming services) called Time Zero: The Last Year of Polaroid. It's really great.