Polaroid Now. Yes I Really Mean NOW !
Last week, amidst the dominating COVID-19 headlines, something wonderful happened. After a 2 year journey Polaroid relaunched. Film, new cameras, brand - the works.
I attribute my love of Polaroid as a photographic medium to Kermit and the Muppets back in the early 1980’s I was 11 and their TV adverts at Christmas were memorable. I then inherited a “vintage” Polaroid from a great aunt and the attraction stuck.
In the 1990’s I used a Polaroid regularly and it’s a bizarre thing that, despite having other cameras, the only picture I have of the World Trade Centre Twin Towers is this Polaroid from my apartment window.
But then, in 2008, technology and the harsh realities of the marketplace caught up with Polaroid and they stopped making film and then ultimately the brand fragmented.
That was all reversed last week when the “Impossible Project” reached it’s conclusion bringing everything back together as Polaroid.
The new cameras are a faithful nod to the iconic designs that powered the brand but with a little modernity both outside and inside - autofocus and a better flash. I cannot wait to get my hands on one.
NB Green and Blue sold out already.
Analogue photography is so completely different from digital. There is no cost associated with digital and that makes us lazy. We can rattle off tens of pix in a few seconds, delete, edit, take some more and so on. We end up taking photographs of the most banal objects and scenes.
With a Polaroid (a bit like the days of Inter-Railing through Europe for a month with a 36 exposure film) you take more time on the subject, the composition before committing.
But beyond that there is the instant gratification of creating something tangible - not bites & bytes but something tactile you can admire and consume without distraction. I’d argue that the first true technology induced dopamine rush was the gentle whirr of a Polaroid camera.
More than anything it’s fun. So much fun.
Their new strapline is “Make It Yours”.
I will - just as soon as social distancing is over !
Mark Izatt is a brand consultant living in London and founder of Mission Critical, a highly focused and curated weekly briefing for time poor and information hungry decision makers and THE FIRST, a monthly briefing containing 31 inspirational insights. Mission Critical is a digital product delivered via his Estonian Consultancy business.
You can email Mark here.
