Photography died today... just a little

Polaroid brings down the shutters on iconic film
By Rachelle Money

Three factories close and 450 jobs go as another product falls victim to digital age

THE DIGITAL age has claimed another victim. First it was the VHS recorder, then the humble transistor radio. Now it's the turn of the Polaroid camera.
Yesterday, the company behind the iconic instant camera announced it was to stop making the film used by Polaroid enthusiasts, because there is no longer a market for it.
Three factories will close in Massachusetts, Mexico and the Netherlands, resulting in 450 job losses. The company stopped making the cameras for commercial use in 2006 and halted production of the consumer models last year.

"We're trying to re-invent Polaroid so it lives on for the next 30 to 40 years," said Tom Beaudoin, the firm's president.
This reinvention means developing Polaroid-branded digital cameras, and portable printers for mobile phone images.
Last month, Polaroid unveiled a line of Zink printers that can develop wallet-sized photos from digital cameras in 60 seconds. The company plans to roll out larger-format printers in coming years.

Polaroid also makes DVD players, TVs and other electronic products, which bring in about $1 billion in annual sales, Beaudoin added. "Our main product line was in a technologically driven decline,'' said Beaudoin. "The Zink printers will complete the transformation from analog instant to digital instant.'' Polaroid film, which has been around since the late-1940s, became a big hit with people who wanted instant results from their camera, and in 1994 its popularity peaked with sales reaching $2.3bn.
However, these figures dropped dramatically to $752 million in 2003 as customers moved to digital cameras.
Polaroid, which was bought out by Petters Group Worldwide three years ago after filing for bankruptcy, will make enough instant film to last into 2009.
It plans to license the technology to third-party companies, leaving Fujifilm as the only remaining supplier of instant film in the United States.
In March, Polaroid's Vale of Leven factory in Dunbartonshire was bought over by StyleMark Inc, a US sunglasses company.
The blame for Polaroid's demise has been laid squarely at the door of digital photography because consumers can achieve the same quick results with the added bonus of being able to edit the images and print them at home.
However, not everyone is convinced Polaroid instant cameras have gone out of fashion. John Buckle, who runs The Photographer's Gallery shop in London, said he has seen a rising number of people buying them.
"I think people love the effect of using a Polaroid camera and film that you don't get with digital cameras. It's the same reason people still love vinyl - it's the way it looks and feels.
"We're selling more and more as Polaroid make fewer and fewer. We're now selling refurbished Polaroid cameras from the 1970s and I think that interest is going to grow because it's a design classic that everyone recognises."
He added: "We hope that someone else will take over the licence and manufacture the film and cameras again because I certainly can see there's a niche market out there, people who still really want to shoot on Polaroid."
Sunday Herald fashion photographer Chris Blott said that although he doesn't use Polaroids in his professional line of work any more, he still uses them for fun.
"I just shot a wedding for a friend last weekend and we shot the whole thing on digital, but I also set up a studio in the evening and shot Polaroids of the guests.
"The reason I did that was because it balanced the very clinical stuff you get with digital. Polaroid is a one-off, it's organic and there's something really special about Polaroids and that's why I'm a fan of them.
"There's that anticipation, that minute of having to wait for the image to be revealed. It's brilliant. It's the magic of film. It's pure and enjoyable."
He added: "I've still got a Polaroid and it takes the most amazing photo-graphs and I still shoot with that for fun, but I don't think the film will be made any longer, which is a real shame," he added.
Andy Warhol was probably the most famous artist to use Polaroids, in the production of his silkscreens. So important were they to his art, the manufacturers kept the model Warhol used in production especially for him.
Celebrity photographer Rankin is also known for his love of Polaroids. He exhibited thousands of Polaroid images he had taken throughout his career in a series of exhibitions in 2006 and 2007, where he sold each of them for £500.