The New York Times’s Lens Blog has a wonderful mini book review of Instant: The Story of Polaroid. The book recounts how Edwin Land decided to create Instant Film because his daughter was impatient and wanted to see her images immediately; she didn’t want to wait for the development time that typical slide and negative film need. He went on to do lots of research, trial and error, and eventually founded the Polaroid company; which apparently Steve Jobs modelled Apple after.

Land’s creations are numerous; I own a Polaroid Land Camera 185; and love it to death. News Editor Peter Walkowiak was recently staying in NY and I was able to open his eyes to the beauty that instant film can deliver. However, one of his benchmark success stories is the SX-70; a camera very highly valued even now. Editorial shoots are still done with this camera, with famed photographer Emiliano Granado being one of the users. The article, even goes on to talk about the Impossible Project, and how Land would have been horrified with their unpredictable results. It’s very much worth the read.

The book is available in Paperback or in the Kindle Store.