An Insider’s Look into the Demise of Polaroid
Monday, July 7th, 2008A few weeks ago, Emily shared her heartfelt regrets on the demise of Polaroid Instant film. Soon after, she received quite an interesting email from one of the Imagekind artists featured in the blog post. The email is from member artist Manuel Branco who actually worked at Polaroid for 34 years. In his email he shared an interesting insider’s look into the beloved film and its ultimate demise.
Manuel had a lot to share, but I found it very interesting to read. Anyone who loves this medium should find his perspective fascinating and, yes, maybe a little depressing. It doesn’t sound good folks.
Read below to see what Manuel said in response to Emily’s post.
- Nate
Hi Emily,
Thanks for including one of my Polaroid diptych images in your blog. You may not know this, but I actually worked as an R&D Lab Technician for Polaroid at the Waltham, MA Chemical Operations Division for over 25 years (34 years total with Polaroid). Our lab actually did all the quality control and release of fine chemicals that were used to coat and manufacture all Polaroid instant films! Polaroid may have just recently announced the discontinuation of Instant film, but it actually pulled the plug over a year ago.
As a Polaroid insider for many years, I was as close as they come to its evolution and ultimate demise. Personally, I’ll be sorry to see it eventually drop out of the market place as a photographic medium. The SX-70 and 600 films were the best products Polaroid ever produced.
The technology to manufacture instant film (especially the hybrid 600 SX-70 type films - integral films) is so complex and technologically demanding, that the dwindling worldwide demand was no longer able to support or sustain it’s manufacturing base! That’s the sad truth. As an insider, I know all the elements of what was attempted to save it. Polaroid made brave efforts to remain relevant in the digital arena.
Once the company came out of bankruptcy and was purchased by the Petters Group, the writing was already on the wall. It was primarily interested in Polaroid’s name recognition and distribution network to expand its market base. It had no intention or interest in sustaining a dying product (instant film) in a market revolutionized by the advent of digital photography - the new “instant photography”.
The coating units that produce Polaroid Instant Film are so specialized and sophisticated, the only thing they can do is coat instant film. They cannot be retrofitted or re-engineered for any other purpose. They are multimillion dollar machines that were engineered to coat film layers as thin as a wavelength of light (that’s about 3 microns - 1 micron is 1/1000th of an mm). Once the warehoused chemicals, used to coat the film, are exhausted, that’s it - game over! Even if worldwide demand for the film increased tomorrow by a magnitude, it could no longer be manufactured since the chemical operations division in Waltham is slated for demolition. The entire Waltham site has already been sold to a developer.
It’s really a shame, because Instant photography is like no other photographic medium ever created or that will ever be created. It cannot really be compared to any other medium. Its formats like the SX-70 600 film and the Peal-Apart films were truly unique. Graphic artists and photographers all over the world loved the medium for its creative potential and experimental, manipulative qualities.
Don’t despair though, Polaroid Instant Films should remain available at photo shops and CVS stores for a number of years before the inventories are exhausted. At least that is my understanding.
