The Camera Does the Rest: How Polaroid Changed Photography

Description

In a world where nearly everyone has a cellphone camera capable of zapping countless instant photos, it can be a challenge to remember just how special and transformative Polaroid photography was in its day. And yet, there’s still something magical for those of us who recall waiting for a Polaroid picture to develop. Writing in the context of two Polaroid Corporation bankruptcies, not to mention the obsolescence of its film, Peter Buse argues that Polaroid was, and is, distinguished by its process—by the fact that, as the New York Times put it in 1947, “the camera does the rest.” Polaroid was often dismissed as a toy, but Buse takes it seriously, showing how it encouraged photographic play as well as new forms of artistic practice. Drawing on unprecedented access to the archives of the Polaroid Corporation, Buse reveals Polaroid as photography at its most intimate, where the photographer, photograph, and subject sit in close proximity in both time and space—making Polaroid not only the perfect party camera but also the tool for frankly salacious pictures taking. Along the way, Buse tells the story of the Polaroid Corporation and its ultimately doomed hard-copy wager against the rising tide of digital imaging technology. He explores the continuities and the differences between Polaroid and digital, reflecting on what Polaroid can tell us about how we snap photos today. Richly illustrated, The Camera Does the Rest will delight historians, art critics, analog fanatics, photographers, and all those who miss the thrill of waiting to see what develops.

Get the book

Amazon.com

Search the book

eBay.com

Search the book

Other editions

• 

  The Camera Does the Rest: How Polaroid Changed Photography

  • 2015-05-16
  • 308 pages
  • Paperback
  • University of Chicago Press

Similar books

• 

  Legendary Locals of Beacon Hill

  By Karen Cord Taylor

  John Collins Warren Dr. John Collins Warren (1778–1856) assisted his father, Dr. John Warren (1753–1815), in 1811 in removing the cancerous breast of Nabby ...

• 

  America and the Tintype

  By Karen Halttunen, Steven Kasher, Brian Wallis

  By Steven kasher, with contributions by Geoffrey Batchen and Karen Halttunen.

• 

  Rail Depots of Eastern North Carolina

  By Larry K. Neal Jr.

  This book hopes to provide rail enthusiasts, local and economic historians, and history lovers in general a look back at the heyday of railroads and how much they affected daily life in North Carolina.

• 

  The Hall: A Celebration of Baseball's Greats: In Stories and Images, the Complete Roster of Inductees

  By The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

  In this unique, 75th anniversary edition, read the stories of every player inducted into the Hall, organized by position.

• 

  Sheffield in the 1980s

  By Mark Metcalf, Justine Jenkinson

  We soon afterwards set up SCAM to complete what had been intended fifty years earlier,' explains Terry Howard, who was secretary of the group until it was finally wound up in 2017. And achieve they did by peacefully trespassing over ...

• 

  Brookfield and Elm Grove

  By Thomas Ramstack

  ... (standing) Conrad Ramstack, Eleanor (Hastrich) Ramstack, Alma Theis, Veronica Ramstack, Helen (Phillips) Ramstack, and Joseph Ramstack. In 2009, this same tavern goes by the name O'Donahue's Irish Pub. (Author's collection.) ...

• 

  Antebellum Homes of Georgia

  By David King Gleason

  ... 101 Bailey, Mary Elizabeth, 101 Banks, William, 94 Barnsley Gardens, 82 Barnett, Samuel, 26 Barnsley, Godfrey, 4, 82 Barnsley, ... James W, 79 Elliott, Virginia Tennessee, 79 Emily and Ernest Woodruff Foundation, 59 Emmel, Walter C, ...

• 

  Hiroshima: Ground Zero 1945

  By Erin Barnett, Phil Mariani

  This exhibition includes approximately 60 contact prints drawn from a unique archive of more than 700 photographs in the collection of the International Center of Photography.

• 

  Legendary Locals of Lake Forest

  By Susan L. Kelsey, Arthur H. Miller

  Susan L. Kelsey, Arthur H. Miller ... This became the Bell School in the first half of the 20th century. ... The photograph of Clarice Hamill and her daughter on page 58 came from the Bell School's 50th anniversary celebration, ...

• 

  Pembroke

  By Karen Cross Proctor

  The Bay Path, a main route from Boston to Plymouth, ran through the West Elm and High Street neighborhoods. Over the generations, these diverse and vibrant communities have helped to shape Pembroke into the town it is today.