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Polaroid Instant Film Reborn?

April 22, 2009

When the Polaroid Corporation announced that they would no longer be making “analog” film for their once ubiquitous non-digital cameras, snap-happy fans of the process instantly flipped out. They started hoarding and trading the remaining film stock and mourning the disappearance of supplies for their beloved SX-70s and other potentially useless cameras.

Polaroid now makes digital camera/printers that support the human urge for instant gratification, so what is it that we miss?

Is it the nostalgic, off-kilter color palette? The anticipation of wondrous development quirks and surprises? The reassuring square format? The fun of vigorously shaking those little squares in the air?

Or is our panic a form of withdrawal—perhaps we crave the effect that instant film’s intoxicating chemical scent has on the human brain.

Now a new venture called The Impossible Project plans to re-start production of instant film in 2010. They’ve already rented out part of a former Polaroid plant in The Netherlands, acquired bulky and complex machinery, and gathered a team of twelve hardy and technically adept men ready to lead the way. At their website you can sign up to support them in their quest; you can even download the business plan.

We wish them the very best because RoadsideAmerica.com would really like the option of experiencing this charmingly outmoded technology in the future.

But until the day when newfangled Polaroid-compatible film arrives on the shelves (estimated to be 2010, if all goes well) the hub of vintage Polaroid camera and film trading is at the Polapremium Online Shop. If you have a hoard of instant photo images to share with the world, you will also want to join the International Polaroid picture community at Polanoid. [Post by Anne D. Bernstein]

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