There was a time when having a @Polaroid was like having a new iPhone. At its peak, it controlled almost two-thirds of the instant camera market in the US.
But the digital revolution offered a new type of instant image, leaving Polaroid exposed. 👇
Edwin Land, the man behind Polaroid, wasn't thinking about instant film when he started out. It was his three-year-old daughter who inspired his groundbreaking invention after a day of taking photos on a Rolleiflex camera.
In 1947, Land revealed instant film to the world with his own self-portrait.
The following year, Polaroid launched its first instant camera and sold out in a day, even though they cost the equivalent of $1,000 today.
Over the next five years, Polaroid sold 900,000 units.
Through the 1950s and '60s, Polaroid cameras got smaller, better, and more popular.
By 1968, Polaroid's sales had reached $400 million. But Land still had his eyes on a bigger prize.
In a film, Land described his vision was to create a camera that people would always have with them. In came the SX-70.
To Land, the company had fully come of age. In the 1970s, the Polaroid camera cemented itself in popular culture, with notable figures like Andy Warhol using the devices.
As fortunes peaked in the late '70s, Land gambled doing for moving images what he had done for stills.
The gamble was Polavision, an 8 mm movie system that could produce instant moving pictures. But many were skeptical.
Polaroid sold 60,000 Polavision units before discontinuing it in 1979. A few years later, Land left the company.
Meanwhile, Kodak had released its own instant camera. Polaroid's share of the US photo market was falling.
The photo industry continued to evolve with cheaper and user-friendly products like the 35 mm film camera. Companies like Canon and Nikon were expanding in the new digital camera market.
Polaroid tried to stay afloat but ultimately declared bankruptcy.
businessinsider.com/polaroid-camer…
In 2008, Polaroid announced it would stop all production of instant cameras and film.
Wholesaler Florian Kaps decided to keep operating the instant film plant as part of a new venture to keep Polaroid's instant film alive. They called it the Impossible Project.
In 2017, the Impossible Project bought what was left of Polaroid.
Today, Polaroid continues to produce iconic cameras and instant film for a generation wanting an analog experience in a digital world.
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