White Balance Blog

With all the hubbub over the fantastic design of the iPad, here’s a look backward when tech seemed simple – or perhaps, it’s more complex than we remember. This ad/documentary shows the glorious inner workings and manufacturing process of the Polaroid camera. Did you ever have one when you were younger? I’ve only used one a few times, but treasure the few polaprints I have.

With photography everywhere now, it’s hard to what a big deal the Polaroid was when it was perfected – instant, accessible, portable, simple in operation. Digital photography is awesome (I’d never go back – I think), but it sure requires a lot of other stuff to actually, you know, hold a photograph in your hand. Kristi and I used to dream about a photo lab in our basement; these days, I let SmugMug handle that for us. I’m completely removed from the physical act of image-making. I guess Polaroids were a chemical lab-in-a-print – remarkable if you think about it (there’s a cool segment in the video that illustrates how it works).

I picked this up from Scott Hansens’ wonderful ISO-50 blog. Great photography, design, & music finds.

Posted by Allan White in Craft, Gear