jake messenger - lightbox - photos and words by me!

The Voice of Edwin Land

I've just finished reading Land's Polaroid by Peter C. Wensberg (you can find it on amazon very cheap), a fascinating history of the company from its foundations in the 30's with polarising screens, through the huge contributions to the war effort, the post-war invention of instant photography, up to the early 80's when Edwin Land retired. Wensberg ran the marketing at Polaroid from the 60's until he left in 1982.

Youtube is full of the adverts he spearheaded, and he describes in detail the shooting of the original Swinger campaign, and the fear that nobody would look at the camera because Ali McGraw was so stunning in a bikini. (Also note the groovy song - sung by Barry Manilow!)

You get a good idea of the intensity of Edwin Land's presence through tales and photos, but inevitably missing is what he sounded like. Youtube doesn't seem to have much on offer, but I did find this clip from an episode of the British TV science programme Horizon from 1986. I'm pretty sure I watched it when it was on.

At last here's the voice of Land, in his mid 70's.

He is the serious scientist, not one to favour being in front of the camera. I want to see more of this programme! I know that the subtractive light system featured in the ill-fated Polavision movie camera, but I would love to know more from the scientist Land about his work.

And I love how even in the mid 80's science on television was allowed to be about the science: slow, deliberate, serious. No need for flashy camera moves and CGI. I think there's room for both, but definitely want to see more like this.

Posted by Jake Messenger

champalicious: adventures in elsewhere

Do please check out Champalicious, the new website by Heather Champ. In it she wants to “celebrate the work of others”. As the former Director of Community at Flickr and a co-founder of JPG Magazine, she has a very good pedigree for sharing people’s work. And she’s a rather fine photographer herself, in love with the analogue and the digital. And she’s Canadian, which current political strife aside, seems to have produced a disproportionate number of splendid people.

She currently has a series called One Two Three where she asks photographers to pick one camera, two pictures and three words. And she was kind enough to ask me to join in! Here’s my contribution.

Bookmark the site, add it to your RSS feeds, as she has an eye for alluring and interesting things.

Posted by Jake Messenger

PX680 is here for all!!

(Deer Crossing)

The day has come! The Impossible Project is now selling the fabulous, exciting and new PX680 First Flush in its store.

Having now torn though a few packs of PX680 (including the ones in this post, taken in early April in the South of France), I feel I can deliver an opinion: it's the Holy Grail. Ever since Impossible was established to reengineer from scratch the miracle of photography which is integral film, there has been the hope and wish for a new Time Zero replacement. I think this is it.

(Glass)

The colours leap out at you in sunlight, there are more subtleties with interior shots. The reds and blues are vivid, the details are sharp. Shield it for great contrast, allow it to flash for some magic with light.

(Knight)

This is the real deal, folks! I showed my dad (who's original SX-70 I still use) a shot of my niece taken with the first beta batch. "Yes! They did it!" was his response. Yes, they did.

And from today it’s available to everybody. And two days before Edwin Land’s 102nd birthday.