» Requiem For A Polaroid

My parents have owned a OneStep (of the SX-70 variety…the one with the rainbow stripe) since before I was born. There were/are many a Polaroid photo in old photo albums; and my dad has one of me when I was a baby in his bedroom.

The first Polaroid camera I bought and used was an I-Zone, sometime in the earlier part of this decade. I loved using that thing, up until I took my last shot with it in the summer of 2006. That same year, Polaroid discontinued the original SX-70/Time Zero film. In response, Unsaleable — in a collaborative effort with a Polaroid factory in the Netherlands — released SX-70 Blend film. While it wasn’t, and isn’t, the same as the original, it’s given SX-70 fans much joy; and it gave me an excuse to get out my parents’ OneStep and try shooting that. Last summer, I bought an old Spectra off eBay; using that has been fantastic.

Lord knows how much fun will be left to be had now. With the discontinuation of Polaroid’s instant cameras (the only one I know of left being the One600), will the extinction of all Polaroid film be far behind? Will Fujifilm step in and make their own alternative integral films, as they’ve done with pack film?

On the other hand, Polanoid and Polanoir, as well as the various Polaroid-themed groups on Flickr, have done a pretty good job of keeping instant photography alive, methinks.

As for me…