EXCLUSIVE: The idea of taking a photograph anywhere, anytime and see the image immediately has become entirely routine. But in the 1940s, the concept was revolutionary.
Long before smart phones made instant photography possible, inventor Edwin Land created the Polaroid camera, a device that generated a sensation on par with the introduction of the iPhone if not even more astonishing. The story of how Land made photography accessible to millions of people – not just the taking of the image but developing it on the spot – is told in the documentary Mr. Polaroid, premiering Monday, May 19 on the PBS series American Experience.
The film written and directed by Gene Tempest and produced by Amanda Pollak will stream for free simultaneously with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS App. It will also be available for streaming (with closed captioning in English and Spanish) on the American Experience website. We have your first look at the documentary in the trailer above.
Edwin Land demonstrates his instant camera or Land Camera, manufactured by Polaroid, circa 1947
Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
“After years of trials, in 1947, Land demonstrated a working scientific prototype of his Polaroid camera to the press; by the 1948 Christmas season, the first Polaroid went up for sale in Boston,” notes a release about the film. “At that time, photography was no simple act. It involved chemicals, darkrooms, specialists or special equipment, and above all, time: it usually took a week for a customer to see a photo after it was snapped. Land wanted to create a device that would collapse time and put the darkroom inside the camera. Helping Land make this dream a reality was an unusual group of pioneering female scientists and researchers, including Eudoxia Muller, who would make the first successful Polaroid instant photograph in 1943, and Meroë Morse, who for almost 30 years ran the Film Research Division. Land’s inclusive vision would break industry norms and expand opportunities for women in cutting-edge technological innovation.”
The release continues, “The product, and the company’s unique culture, would launch not only instant photography mania but also become the model for today’s Silicon Valley tech culture.”
Signage for Polaroid on display at their both during CES 2018 in Las Vegas
David Becker/Getty Images
Land may have been a visionary — a sort of proto-Steve Jobs, but it’s hard to dispute that Jobs possessed the sharper business mind. As far as Land goes, “success masked risky financial gambles, a costly lawsuit against archrival Kodak, and an increasingly obsessive belief on Land’s part that technology could cure rifts in contemporary society,” the release says. “The history of Land and Polaroid’s fall is as precipitous and revealing as that of his rise.”
Cameo George serves as executive producer of Mr. Polaroid. Josh Melrod edited the film.
American Experience, now in its 37th season, has been television’s most-watched history series, “bringing to life the incredible characters and epic stories that have shaped America’s past and present.” American Experience documentaries have been honored with every major broadcast award, including 30 Emmy Awards, five duPont-Columbia Awards and 19 George Foster Peabody Awards.
Watch the trailer for Mr. Polaroid above.
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