A 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Manuel Branco

If you are a lover of Polaroid photos, then you have probably heard the sad, awful news: Polaroid has decided to discontinue the production of all its instant films to make room for new technologies. I am an artist of many mediums, and one of my favorites is Polaroid. Amateurs and professional photographers alike have embraced the instant gratification that a Polaroid gives us. Some well known artists who loved the medium include such names as Ansel Adams, Chuck Close, Walker Evans, Andy Warhol… the list goes on and on.

I bought my first Polaroid camera from a Goodwill in Rhode Island, and never looked back. I have taken thousands of Polaroids since then – a mix of snapshots and more formal pieces. Some of them stay as they are, others are incorporated into mixed-media resin sculptures, or used to make digital negatives for alternative processes. The loss of Polaroid as a medium is absolutely heartbreaking to me. Reading the testimonials on Save Polaroid made me want to do everything I can to keep this medium alive.

Artwork: Untitled by Colie Parks
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If you are a Polaroid enthusiast, you know that they made many other films besides the consumer 600 film, with only a few of them having the “Polaroid” white frame. The 669 film is especially unique in that the photographic emulsion is on the surface of the photo, not protected by a plastic layer. An artist can take the emulsion off of the plastic backing and apply it to almost any surface. With the consumer films, one can manipulate the photos after taking them too -the emulsion doesn’t harden right away, and so with a blunt tool and imagination, the artist can physically move the emulsion around in the frame. The long-discontinued Time-Zero film was renowned for its dreamy and soft manipulations.

Artwork: Vintage Court by Sarah Hazel
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Unless another company picks up the manufacturing rights to (and WANTS to manufacture) the film, then our Polaroid cameras have a bleak future (Fujifilm makes some instant films, which does give me hope!). So lets enjoy all of the Polaroids that are already in existence. I was so excited to find a large group of artists here on Imagekind who have digitized their Polaroid pictures and made them available for sale as prints.

Artwork: Hotel by Marianne Luther
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Though the demise of Polaroid film appears imminent, you can help keep them alive by buying and selling them as high end art prints. Here are four tips to help give your Polaroids new life as giclee prints. I have a few personal recommendations for making them as awesome as they possibly can be.

1. Be sure to scan them at very high quality. I leave all the scratches that the surface gets in the scan because I like the way it looks – but be sure to carefully look at the final scan to be sure it is free of anything that you don’t want to show up in the final print.

2. When scanning photos made with a consumer-grade camera, consider whether or not you want to keep the signature white frame around the image. One may argue that the kitsch factor is dulled by removing it. Take a look at what others have done and decide if your image is effective when cropped. If you do decide to keep the frame as part of the image, consider making it so you can see all the edges – adding a little bit of contrast or shadow to the edges to really make it stand out in prints.

Artwork: Hard Candy by Manuel Branco
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3. You should feel free to manipulate your pictures in Photoshop! Once your image is on a computer, take advantage of the tools that you have to make your photos even better. Or experiment even more and combine other elements into your photos that may be unexpected, such as drawings or textures. Let your Polaroids be a starting point for other works. You’ll still have the original to cherish, so have fun with your reproductions!

4. Consider the paper that you are going to print on. The Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl paper will give a similar stiffness and surface as an original Polaroid, but a watercolor paper (such as Somerset Velvet or Hahnemuhle Torchon) can bring out more painterly aspects of your images. Polaroid emulsion lifts or transfers look especially beautiful when printed on these papers.

Artwork: Polaroid Mix 4 by bradstrain
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If you want to read more about this amazing medium, there are some great resources out there. Our friends at COLOURlovers have interviewed some fantastic polaroid artists in their blog. If you want to join the petitions to save this amazing medium, please check out SavePolaroid.com. Spread the Polaroid love and post your Polaroids to polanoid.net, join the Save Polaroid Flickr Group, and of course start selling your Polaroids on Imagekind!

Artwork: The End by Lord Schmindie
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R.I.P. Polaroid. Hopefully we’ll see you again someday.

-Emily