All rights reserved. Published 2016.
Publication of this book has been aided by a grant from the Neil Harris Endowment Fund, which honors the innovative scholarship of Neil Harris, the Preston and Sterling Morton Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Chicago. The Fund is supported by contributions from the students, colleagues, and friends of Neil Harris.
Buse, Peter, 1970 author.
The camera does the rest : how Polaroid changed photography / Peter Buse.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-226-17638-3 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-226-31216-3 (e-book) 1. Polaroid CorporationHistory. 2. Instant photographyHistory. 3. Photography, ArtisticHistory. I. Title.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
Polaroid Joycam. Authors collection.
Polaroid Type 500 film, 1992. Photographs by Tony Delli Santi.
Polaroid I-Zone Silver, licensed under CC-BY-2.0.
Early Polaroid instruction leaflet, c1949. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Administrative Records, Box 1.243, f6: Product information-consumer-general information-Its easy!, circa 1949. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Polaroid One-Step. Authors collection.
Polaroid Automatic cross-section including pod, film sandwich, 1963. Courtesy Science & Society Picture Library.
Polaroid Swinger advertisement, 1967.
Polaroid Swinger display, 1965. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Administrative Records, Box 1.62, f.5. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Life magazine, October 27, 1972.
I-Zone prints, ca. 2002. Photographs by Matthew Frost.
Polaroid Model 95 Land Camera advertisement, Camera, February 1950.
SX-70 Product information, 1974, Now there are two. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Administrative Records, Box 1.73, f. 21. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Polaroid Spectra prints, 1986, 2004. Photographs by Tony Delli Santi and Rajeet Pannu.
Polaroid Spectra booklet, 1986. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Administrative Records, Box 1.257, f. 11. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Study for Tubes album cover, 1977. Courtesy Michael Cotten.
Prints, Polaroid Type 20 film for Swinger, ca. 1960s1970s. Photographs courtesy Tony Delli Santi.
Polaroid 600 prints, 200810. Authors collection.
Polacolor (right) and Kodacolor prints compared, 1960s. Polacolor photograph by Tony Delli Santi and found image.
The picture is literally delivered toward the pictured (Sharon Smith). Ca. 1978. Authors collection.
Promotional image, Polaroid Vision (Captiva) Press Kit. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Administrative Records, Box 1.333, f.11. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Photo-document integration memo. 1991. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Collection, New Products and Tech folder, meeting of stockholders, 7 May, 1991. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Polaroids broad approach to imaging. 198587. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Administrative Records, Box 1.243, f.10. Courtesy of Baker Library. Harvard Business School.
National Rail advertisement, 2009.
Front cover, Polaroid Annual Report, 1954. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Collection. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Polaroid squared, 1980s, 2002. Authors collection and courtesy Rajeet Pannu.
Birthday party Polaroid, 1970s. Authors collection.
Look whos demonstrating Polaroids 3000 speed products on TV! Photo: Polaroid Corporation Administrative Records, Box 56, f14: Publicity-Advertising Television Shows, 1959. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Meeting the Public. 19657? Photo: Polaroid Corporation Administrative Records. Box 1.243. f.14. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
SX-70 Demonstration Center, Milwaukee, 1973. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Administrative Records. Box 1.321. f.I. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Polaroid unveils 30-ton Spectra camera. 1986. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Administrative Records, Box 1.215, f.11.
Polaroid Annual Meeting, 1972. Polaroid Newsletter, May 16, 1972. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Collection, Harvard. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Polaroid Annual Meeting, 1972. Polaroid Newsletter, May 16, 1972. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Collection, Harvard. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Land demonstrates one-step process to press, 1947. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Collection, Harvard. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
At a Ted Serios party. Jule Eisenbud collection on Ted Serios and thoughtographic photography, University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Cover, Modern Photography, March 1969.
Polaroid buildings at intersection of Windsor and Main, Cambridge, MA.
Spectra Onyx promotional booklet, 1987. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Administrative Records, Box 1.257, f. 14. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Polaroid advertisement in Scientific American, March 1964.
Dody. Polaroid Land Camera advertisement, Camera, November 1950. Photograph by Ansel Adams.
Polaroid Land Camera advertisement, Camera, June 1951.
Back cover, Aperture 93 (Winter 1983).
Back cover, Aperture 145 (Fall 1996).
Back cover, Polaroid Corporation Annual Report, 1956. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Collection. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Polaroid advertisement in Scientific American, August 1978.
Polaroid Annual Report, 1977. Photo: Polaroid Corporation Collection. Courtesy of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Polaroid Close-Up, Winter 1983.
Fuji Instax prints, 2012. Authors collection.
Fuji Instax Mini prints, 2012. Authors collection.
Impossible Project print, 2014. Authors collection.
Trimmed integral Polaroid, ca. 1991. From the Salford Local History Library Collection.
Back of trimmed integral Polaroid, ca. 1991. From the Salford Local History Library Collection.
Polaroid has provoked some famous passions. Andy Warhol took instant pictures of everyone who passed through the Factory, John Waters of everyone who visited his apartment, and Jamie Livingston a Polaroid-a-day for the last eighteen years of his life. I often get asked if I am also a Polaroid fanatic, a lover of all things instant. Do I take my Polaroid with me everywhere? Do I have a huge collection of cameras in the basement? The truth is, before I started this project, my experience of Polaroid photography was similar to that of many others who grew up in North America in the 1970s and 1980s. My family had a Polaroid OneStep camera that came out of the closet for short bursts of activity before disappearing again for long stretches of time. There are Polaroid snaps of my eighth birthday party and of my high school graduation, and of a few events in between. Every Polaroid snap seemed like an event in itself, but for me, as for most, the Polaroid was an occasional camera.