Gone in an Instant

The end of an era in photography is at hand. Polaroid Corporation, the maker of the once famous instant camera, is to lay off 15000 employees. They also intend to cease production of film by the end of this year.

Originally the company was founded in 1948 by Edwin Land but it was only in the 1970's that the camera became famous when the Model SX70 was introduced. It could give you an (almost) instant hard copy of your photograph – but only one copy.

Professional photographers found it a boon to fit a Polaroid back to studio cameras to take test shots prior to committing themselves to traditional film. Most others used the cameras for happy snaps or when photographs were needed at short notice for court cases, construction progress and so on.

The digital age of photography has claimed yet another famous brand name victim.