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Strictly analogue: Polaroid's past, present and future
- romwell 8y agoStrictly analogue? "Strictly analogue" talk for instant photography is needless fetishism. I've owned a Polaroid SNAP* camera for over two years, and made hundreds of shots with it. It never fails to impress. The pictures come out right away, and when you tell people "And by the way, it's a sticker, put it on a postcard", their eyes invariably light up. Yes, it's a digital camera with a thermal printer inside (like one that prints receipts, but in color). No, nobody gives a damn about it being digital, the only thing that matters is that you press a button - a picture comes out. And it doesn't have a screen because it doesn't need one. For all that, it's half the size and half the cost per print of a Fuji Instax Mini, which means I just throw it in my shoulder bag and forget about it until I need it. Yes, it can save the JPEG as well. But on my last trip, I didn't put a memory card in. Several people appreciated that when I explained it to them. In the end, "analogue" is not the thing that people love about instant photography. It's the instant part, (regarding the paper print that comes out), the lack of screens to glare at, maybe the anticipation aspect, and not thinking about pictures going to Facebook right away. For And - in case of ZINK-based cameras - the fact that they're stickers. My point is that the Impossible Project, however beloved (and yes, I've shot that as well), is not the future. And I won't speak of the future, but a decent chunk of present instant photography - Polaroid in particular - is digital. And this digital present is great. Someone should tell the article authors about it. * Kodak Printomatic is, essentially, the same camera (which I also own), made by the same company, and compatible with Polaroid ZINK paper.