The idea of the instant camera is almost 90 years old: in the 1930s, physicist Edwin Herbert Land developed polarizing films for which he applied for a patent in 1933. In 1947, the inventor presented his first instant camera, the Land Camera, and a year later the first instant camera was sold.
However, it was not the camera that became the sensational invention, but the photo. A film cassette contains up to ten images with an integrated photo laboratory. In the lower, white border of each photo, a few milliliters of chemicals are stored in three small pockets.
When the photo is released, it is pressed through two rollers so that the chemical bags burst and the contents spread over the positive. The photos develop themselves within minutes, a trip to the photo lab is no longer necessary.
Marwan El-Mozayen, publisher of the photo magazine "Silvergrain Classics", explains the trend towards instant cameras not only with the uniqueness of each individual picture but also with its creation.
"The photographer experiences the development of the photo, sees how it mechanically comes out of the camera," says El-Mozayen. “First he sees a ghost photo, which slowly develops into a finished photo. It's a small event and there's something magical about it.”
The snapshot camera has been used as a documentary camera, evidence, or tool by artists in the decades since its invention. Ansel Adams, Andy Warhol, Helmut Newton, Walker Evans and David Hockney work with Polaroids. Fashion designers, architects and painters also rely on the technology.
Professional photographers often put special cassettes with instant photos on the back of the camera to get test photos directly. With these peel-apart films, also known as separation images, they directly controlled their set-up. After exposure, the photo is pulled out of the film cassette, after a few minutes the photographer peels off a foil and the photo develops.
Kodak produced the film negatives for Polaroid and manufactured its own instant cameras in the mid-1970s. The technology is booming: in 1978 the two manufacturers sold around 18 million instant cameras. But Polaroid was not pleased with the competitor's success and sued the film giant for patent infringement.
In 1985, after nearly a decade of litigation, Polaroid pushed Kodak out of the market. As a successor for its film negatives, Polaroid looked to the Japanese manufacturer Fujifilm, which has been offering its own instant camera series under the name Instax since 1999.
With the success of digital photography and the use of smartphones, sales of instant photos plummeted. When Polaroid stopped producing instant film and cameras in 2008, Fujifilm was the only manufacturer of instant cameras and film for a transitional period. Only when Florian “Doc” Kaps brought “The Impossible Project” to life in 2008 did a second provider return.
The Viennese photo entrepreneur Kaps, who had already made a name for himself with his commitment to experimental, analog snapshot photography (Lomography), saved the last Polaroid production facility in the Netherlands from collapse with two comrades-in-arms and began developing new instant films.
"That was complicated because a Polaroid film needs more than 35 components, but only half of them were available," says Kaps. Above all, young creative people who had nothing to do with Polaroid before support him.
After two years of work, Florian Kaps was able to sell the first films in 2010 - and has been considered the savior of instant film ever since. “The new films are created with a new recipe. It is therefore a different product than before. But a Polaroid remains unique,” says Kaps. "Polaroid offers a unique piece for a special moment in a life, it is a real and self-developed photo."
Markus Elsner has been taking photos with Polaroid instant cameras since the mid-1980s. "I was immediately fascinated by this fast and wonderful technique, the square image format with the white bar below and the color peculiarities," says Elsner. He has been working as an artist with Polaroid for almost 40 years, mostly with models from the SX-70* or 600 series.
With his cameras, he exhibits instant photo originals as well as reproductions up to ten square meters in art exhibitions and studios. “The special thing about an instant photo is that it is immediately available and unique. In addition, the Polaroids offer a unique color language,” says the artist from Frankfurt/Main.
35mm slides can display up to 34,000 different shades, while Polaroids have 300 shades. “The camera interprets the colors itself, so it has its own color aesthetic. If you know that, you can use it specifically in photography. Therein lies a particular appeal, as does the manual editing of the photo,” says Markus Elsner.
It is true that the new films from 2010 are no longer quite as brilliant as in the 1980s and 1990s due to the use of different chemicals and offer a different color rendering than before, says Elsner. But with the right lighting conditions, current instant photos also develop their own charm.
As an artist, right after the photograph is taken, Elsner processes the image by manually pressing on the surface to mix the chemicals and thus alter the development process. This results in Polaroids that look like painted pictures.
The quality of the historic cameras from Polaroid, such as the SX-70, is much better, but Marwan El-Mozayen gives preference to Fujifilm when it comes to the films. “The Fuji films offer better color reproduction, are close to perfect and cost significantly less than Polaroid. And you can get them almost anywhere,” he says.
The Fuji films are good-natured, with ISO 800 they offer high light sensitivity and a large exposure latitude. On the other hand, there is also an appeal in the unpredictability of Polaroid. "Some photographers like the element of surprise in Polaroid because the photographer can never be sure how the colors will turn out," says Marwan El-Mozayen.
Fans of instant cameras love the peculiar color tones, the nostalgia, the analogue and the deceleration that goes with it. "For me, Polaroid photography is one of the strictest schools of photography," says Markus Elsner.
"Before each photo, photographers have to think about how they want to take the picture, because every photo is expensive and unique," says Elsner. Instead of taking snaps, photographers would have to concentrate on the "picture detail that will later be carved in stone".
An Instax double pack (also available including a camera*) with two times ten photos costs around 12 euros, Polaroid* charges around 20 euros for a cassette with eight photos. Only the cassettes for the small-format Go cameras* (from 100 euros) from Polaroid contain twice as many shots for the same price, i.e. 16. In addition to a large selection of cameras at starting prices from around 80 euros, Fuji also offers a large range of accessories for the Instax system with different formats such as Instax Mini*, Instax Square* and Instax Wide*.
Old Polaroid film cassettes, which still contain ten photos, can only theoretically be used with the new Polaroid cameras that have been on the market for a few years. "The batteries usually discharge, and the chemicals in old fume cupboards dry out," explains Markus Elsner. Films that are two to three years old are usually no longer usable.
The new Polaroid film cassettes with eight photos are available in color or black and white, both for the old SX-70 or 600 series and for the new Polaroid cameras from the Now series* (from 160 euros). With Polaroid, a flat battery in the film cassette traditionally supplies the camera with energy.
At Fujifilm, on the other hand, the battery has always been in the cameras. This makes the films cheaper and more environmentally friendly. However, there are also so-called i-Type versions of the newer Polaroid cameras that work according to this principle - and of course there are also i-Type film cassettes without batteries.
"Many believed that the digital would wipe out the analogue," says Florian Kaps. But that didn't happen, instead the analog was given a different weighting: "It's of higher quality and unique."
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