Polaroid 50 Years, Art & Technology
On November 26, 1948, the first instant camera and
film were sold to the public at Jordan Marsh
department store in Boston, Massachusetts. Fifty
years later, Polaroid celebrates the anniversary of one
of the greatest advances in photographic
technology—a one-step photographic process that
produces finished photographs within one minute.
Edwin H. Land,
inventor of Polaroid
instant film
In 1944, Edwin H. Land, while vacationing in Santa
November 26, 1948,
a huge crowd in Boston
gets its first glance at
the first instant film
Fe, New Mexico, photographed his young daughter
who wondered aloud why she couldn’t see her portrait
right away. What began with a child’s innocent
question resulted in a dramatic advance in
photographic science and technology when the instant
photographic process was introduced to the Optical
Society of America three years later. Creative,
innovative thinking made possible what previously had
been thought impossible.
Click on any image in this exhibit
for an enlarged view
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Polaroid 50 Years, Edwin Land
Edwin H. Land
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Polaroid 50 Years, First Glance at the Instant Camera
First glance at
the instant
camera
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Polaroid 50 Years, Art & Technology
The first instant Polaroid films were sepia. Images of
Land demonstrates
Polaroid instant peel-apart film.
friends and family, courtyards
and wooded landscapes were
captured in soft, earthy hues.
Black-and-white films, reusable
negatives, color films and
electronic imaging capabilities
expanded the instant repertoire
as the decades passed. The
Polaroid spirit of scientific
inquiry never diminished as the
search for new and
evolutionary photographic
media continued.
An early instant
Polaroid camera
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Polaroid 50 Years, Dr. Land demonstrates the peel-apart instant Polaroid film
Dr. Land
Demonstrates the
peel-apart instant
Polaroid Film
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Polaroid 50 Years, Early Instant Polaroid Camera
Early instant Polaroid
Camera
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Polaroid 50 Years, Art & Technology
Polaroid films
invented over
the years.
Ansel Adams
Polaroid Land Film
Type 42
Keeping pace with the scientific
spirit was the creative genius of
talented artists. Stimulated by each
new invention, they sought fresh
and unusual ways of expressing
their visions on instant film. When
Lucas Samaras pushed the dyes of
an SX-70 photograph with a blunt
stylus to manipulate the original
image, he created a minor
revolution.
Lucas Samaras
Lynn Butler
Paul Caponigro
Polaroid Positive/Negative
4x5 film Type 55
J. Wayne Olson
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Anita Douthat
Polaroid 50 Years, Ansel Adams
ANSEL ADAMS
Yosemite, 1955
Polaroid Land Film Type 42
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Polaroid 50 Years, Paul Caponigro
PAUL CAPONIGRO
Untitled, 1963
Gelatin silver photograph
from Polaroid
Positive/Negative 4x5 film
Type 55
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Polaroid 50 Years, Lucas Samaras
LUCAS
SAMARAS
Untitled, 1974
Manipulated
Polaroid
Time-Zero
Supercolor
photograph
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Polaroid 50 Years, Lynn Butler
LYNN
BUTLER
Camargue
Bulls, 1991
Cibachrome
photograph
from 35mm
PolaChrome
film
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Polaroid 50 Years, J. Wayne Olson
J. WAYNE OLSON
Untitled, 1993
Polaroid film Type 108 transfer
on beeswax and glass with prismatic
reflector
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Polaroid 50 Years, Anita Douthat
ANITA
DOUTHAT
La Mano
Sangrante,
1992
Spectra
(Image)
System film
composite
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Polaroid 50 Years, Art & Technology
x
Polaroid films
invented over
the years.
Similarly, transferring photographic
dyes to watercolor paper or silk
fabric rather than to the intended
photographic paper created a
unique art form that continues to
resonate with fine art and
commercial photographers alike.
Imogen Cunningham
The explorations of many fine
Rosamund W. Purcell
Polacolor 4x5 Land Film
Type 58
artists testify to the unlimited
creative possibilities of instant
photography.
Anthony Barboza
Sandi Fellman
20x24 Polacolor Photograph
John Wood
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Rei Taka
Polaroid 50 Years, Rosamond W. Purcell
ROSAMOND W. PURCELL
The Climber, 1979
Polacolor 4x5 Land Film
Type 58
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Polaroid 50 Years, Sandi Fellman
SANDI FELLMAN
Untitled, 1996
20x24 Polacolor photograph
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Polaroid 50 Years, John Wood
JOHN WOOD
Using Dave Heath’s Rejects as
Negatives, 1984
Gelatin silver photograph and
Polaroid Time-Zero collage
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Polaroid 50 Years, Imogen Cunningham
IMOGEN CUNNINGHAM
Ansel Adams, c. 1968
Polaroid Land Film
Type 50 Series
© Imogen Cunningham
Trust, 1978
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Polaroid 50 Years, Anthony Barboza
ANTHONY BARBOZA
Voodoo Child, N.Y., 1993
20x24 PC PRO photograph
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Polaroid 50 Years, Rei Taka
REI TAKA
Still Life #62, 1992
Platinum/Palladium
photograph from
Polaroid Positive/Negative
4x5 film Type 55
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Polaroid 50 Years, Art & Technology, Page 5 of 5
Polaroid films
invented over
the years.
Robert Solywoda
Natale Zoppis
Micaela Garzoni
Polacolor Film Type 669
Christopher James
Polacolor Time/Zero
photographs
For some people, Polaroid photography
means snapshot photography—capturing
special moments during a family
celebration or creating a record for a more
utilitarian purpose. But for many renowned
and emerging photographers, Polaroid
photography is much more. It is the artistic
medium of choice for artists, educators and
commercial photographers who rely on
Polaroid films in an abundance of creative
and innovative ways. The works displayed
here mark only a few important advances
made in Polaroid photographic science and
symbolize five decades of artistic
inventiveness.
Copyright of all images in this exhibit remains with each photographer.
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Burt Weston
Eberhard Grames
Polaroid 50 Years, Micaela Garzoni
MICAELA
GARZONI
Marko, 1996
Polacolor
film Type 669
transfer on
silk with
acrylic paint
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Polaroid 50 Years, Christopher James
CHRISTOPHER JAMES
Untitled from the series
Alpha/Enamel, 1977
Color coupler photograph
with enamel and
Polaroid Time-Zero
photographs
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Polaroid 50 Years, Robert Solywoda
ROBERT
SOLYWODA
Coffee Finca, San
Jorge, Guatemala,
1987
Photogravure
from Polaroid
Positive/Negative
4x5 film Type 55
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Polaroid 50 Years, Natale Zoppis
NATALE ZOPPIS
Museo della Memoria: Reliquary, 1992
Polaroid Type 600 HS collage
mounted on cardboard
with staples, graphite, and colored
pencil
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Polaroid 50 Years, Brett Weston
BRETT WESTON
Portrait of Jason Robards, 1956
Polaroid Land Film Type 42
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Polaroid 50 Years, Eberhard Grames
EBERHARD GRAMES
Reptile Love Affair, 1990
Polapan 8x10 film Type 803
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