Tag Archives: Polaroid

pictures on the spot

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. In the last half of the last century, photography had a number of goals for improvement for amateurs. Three come to mind: Faster media, so pictures could be taken indoors or at night; colour at lower cost; and faster … Continue reading →

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in a minute? why so long?

Posted on January 19, 2019 by Robert

Toronto. In the 1950s, the Polaroid cameras were a revolution in photography. Take a shot (always so great in ads) and in a minute you could see the result in crisp black and white luminance values. Passé today with the … Continue reading →

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a Diana for squares

Posted on December 29, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. Lomography USA is keeping alive film by offering inexpensive cameras plus other optional lenses, some that work on digital cameras too. Their latest Diana Instant Square model uses Fuji Instax film to create square “polaroid” style photos. Birgit Buchart … Continue reading →

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things we take for granted

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. See a great photo. Out comes the smartphone. Click, click, click, click, and one of the rapidly taken shots is a real winner. Upload to home and friends. Phone into pocket and we continue on. Just a normal sunny … Continue reading →

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the wonders of Polaroid

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. My thanks to George Dunbar for sending me a note on the Guardian article by Christian Sinbaldi and Mee-Lai Stone (Picture Editor, Culture) titled Strictly analogue: Polaroid’s past, present and future – a photo essay. The Polaroid company has … Continue reading →

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the world’s most exciting camera in 1950?

Posted on June 21, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. In its October 30th, 1950 advertisement in LIFE magazine, Polaroid touted its camera as “The World’s Most Exciting” and “this year’s most wanted [Christmas] gift“. While this was typical marketing fluff, Polaroid was right. In a world used to … Continue reading →

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Julian Schnabel at Ostlicht (WestLicht) Gallery this summer

Posted on May 28, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. Stefan Musil of the Ostlicht Gallery for Photography sent out an email on the 25th to announce that the gallery will host an exhibition of American  Julian Schnabel’s Polaroids this summer from June 7, 2018 to August 4, 2018. … Continue reading →

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the old way to get pictures quickly

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. In the film era you waited days or weeks to see the results of your camera efforts – unless you owned one of the marvellous Polaroid cameras that gave you a picture in a minute! Edwin Land came up … Continue reading →

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collecting orphan Polaroids

Posted on February 9, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. This past Monday, I received an interesting email from George Dunbar. The topic was orphan Polaroids. George passed on this link to an article in the Washington Post (motto “Democracy Dies in Darkness”). The article, written by Dee Swann … Continue reading →

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March 3, 1947 photographic milestone

Posted on January 11, 2018 by Robert

Toronto. George Dunbar sent me an email the other day showing the first announcement of Edwin Land’s picture in a minute process in the March 3, 1947 issue of LIFE I recently did a post on the impact this picture … Continue reading →

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