The Polaroid Book

by Barbara Hitchcock, Steve Crist (Editor)

In existence for over 50 years, the Polaroid Corporation's photography collection is the greatest collection of Polaroid images in the world. Begun by Polaroid founder Edwin Land and photographer Ansel Adams, the collection now includes images by hundreds of photographers throughout the world and contains important pieces by artists such as David Hockney, Helmut Newton, Jeanloup Sieff, and Robert Rauschenberg. The Polaroid Book, a survey of this remarkable collection, pays tribute to a medium that defies the digital age and remains a favorite among artists for its quirky look and instantly gratifying, one-of-kind images. ? over 400 works from the Polaroid Collection ? essay by Polaroid's Barbara Hitchcock illuminating the beginnings and history of the collection ? technical reference section featuring the various types of Polaroid cameras

Genres: Photography, Art, Nonfiction, Reference, Art and Photography, Coffee Table Books, Art Design

400 pages, Hardcover

First published February 25, 2005

Reviews

[mahita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this lovely gift from Shaun back in December but never opened it until tonight for whatever reason, but it was so worth it. I would’ve liked a few more essays and/or artist’s statements but the index at the end works well enough for me to do some research outside the book too 🤓. My main takeaway from all this is that I need to get my hands on a Polaroid camera! And you should too!!

[Ylenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, only a handful of the photos included in here actually made me stop browsing it...

[Joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this age of digital everything, it is easy to forget what a marvel Polaroid film was. To think that here was this thick, easily-marred, heavy-bordered piece of film that would, within seconds, display an image was, in its day, mind blowing.

For a select few generations, the simple, black Polaroid camera was a requisite part of high school and college life. There was one at every dorm party, at every school event, at every haunted house, at every roller rink, at every arcade. They were staples of memory boxes and scrapbooks. And they were one of the first mediums for many young artists. After all, what better way to learn about composition and light and framing than with a device that let you see the results within seconds?

Polaroid became much more than just that, of course. Their high end camera backs and films were necessary tools for professionals until just a few years ago. On the other end of the spectrum were their art films and camera attachments that let people make photo transfers and slide prints and all manner of other images.

Taschen's book encompasses all of that history and exploration and art by presenting hundreds of individual photos all created with Polaroid film. The images range from experimental to candid to test shots to accidental masterpieces by artists from the full range of the photographic arts.

As with most Taschen books, it is printed in several languages, laid out with care, dedication, and full credit to artists and copyright holders. The color details are gorgeous and the tome is an excellent addition to any collection or bookshelf.

Recommended.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sehr inspirierende Sammlung an Polaroid Fotos, die gut kuratiert ins Buch gesetzt wurden.
Durch die Einleitung erfährt man die Entstehungsgeschichte der Polaroid Kameras und ihrer Erfinder. Am Ende gibt es eine Übersicht über alle verwendeten Kameras mit kleinen Modellbildern und Informationen.
Gewünscht hätte ich mir genauere Angaben über verwendete Materialien oder Techniken, da man auf einigen Fotos erkennt, dass mehr als der pure Polaroid Film im Spiel war.

[Florence · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a part of every photograph to be admired, though in recent years I’d argue the appreciation of film and poloroid photography has become under appreciated for the art form it is.
This book contained so many beautiful photographs capturing unique moments and while I’m easily impacted by images, there were some seriously powerful ones in here. It made me realise the value of other forms of photography once again.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Posted on my book blog.

Regardless of bad choices in business practice, Polaroid and its cameras remain one of the best things that happened to Photography. Recently, with news of the company shutting down and new enterprises taking over the responsibility to perpetuate the film manufacture, there's been a revival of interest in the polaroid medium, specially for artists and photographers.

This book is gorgeous and of wonderful quality. The essays are interesting, if a little short and superficial. There's no shortage of images, and I felt like the book would have benefited from a tighter selection, as well as less literal pairings. However, there are some true gems throughout, and this is worth it for those who take interest in Polaroids.

[Addie Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

the news that polaroid film will no longer be produced is the saddest thing I have heard in a while.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only liked maybe 10 of the hundreds of photos in this book. Want to see good Polaroid photography? Flickr and Tumblr are your friends — and that's FREE.

[Ahmad Gamal Saad-Eddin · Rating 5 out of 5]

بديع الحقيقة. معتقدش أني عمري هقرا كتاب من نفس العالم دا تاني. صدف لطيفة تلقي بهذه الأشياء أمام الواحد.

[Mickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspirador, una buena colección y el detalle final sobre la cronología de las cámaras es muy útil, en definitiva un buen libro de mesa de centro.

Al no conocer mucho sobre el tipo polaroid, es decir nunca me había llamado la atención antes me sorprendió la creatividad y múltiples enfoques artísticos que se le pueden dar al formato.

[Matt Matt Tobin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous book. Strongly recommend for physical photography fans and those into photography history.

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no words. I'm afraid if I tried to describe the energy of any of these photographies Steve Christ so wonderfully compiled, the magic would slip away.

I am a photography student, and dear stars above, this fills me with desire of grabbing the first camera I can find and photograph the wonders around and beyond.

[Layla Zenin]

Lasse p hade tyckt om den här boken

[Ray Dunsmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting selection of photos from the collection of the Polaroid company. As such, it's primarily a showcase for Polaroid film & cameras and the sort of things you can do with them. The roster of artists is quite impressive - including luminaries like Robert Frank, Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, Chuck Close, Ansel Adams, David Hockney, Jim Dine, Elliott Erwitt, Philippe Halsman, Art Kane, Mary Ellen Mark, Duane Michals, Helmut Newton, Eliot Porter, Jerry Uelsmann, Brett Weston and William Wegman. As a book of art photography, it's fascinating. Most importantly, they've kept intact one of the most important parts of the photos that add that particular Polaroid charm: the edges of the print. This might seem like a really piddling thing to point out - miniscule enough to be nearly nothing. But I recently read a book of Andrei Tarkovsky's Polaroids that used the same stock Polaroid instamatic frame for each photo, robbing the prints of that particular character and making the book as a whole feel oddly low-rent. The prints in this book illustrate that point wonderfully. The writing on the border: autograph, title, explanation. The mottled textures and colors of the picture's edge. The luminous stripes of gold and red on the sides of Polacolor prints. The artists who transferred their photos onto pieces of fabric, folding and undulating as if blown by the wind onto the paper they're adhered to. The almost palpable texture of the ways artists have mutilated or altered their prints in creative ways - poking holes, painting on them, scratching into the print. The photos are enigmatic, experimental, often sexually explicit, placing dots in front of you and leaving any possible connection to the viewer. The Polaroid aesthetic is one people desperately seek (just look at any pre-set filter on Instagram) and this book is one long explanation as to why.

[Nuria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me esperaba más.
No sé por que se puso super de moda este libro, parecía que todo el mundo lo tenía, así que me lancé a comprarlo, pero no me parece gran cosa.
Me explico, vienen fotografías de diversos autores, lo cual a mi me gusta ya que me ayuda a descubrir gente nueva, pero se me hace demasiado aleatorio. Hay algunas fotografías que me gustan muchísimo, pero hay otras muchas que me parecen demasiado simples.
Está bien para darle un vistazo de vez en cuando pero me esperaba más, supongo que es culpa de las expectativas que tenía.
Tampoco me arrepiento de comprarlo, pero puede que para alguien que se esté iniciando en la fotografía lo disfrute más.

[Андрій Кривцун · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice book with 254 shoots have selected from The Polaroid Collection Photography.

The book consists of three sections: the history of Polaroid brand formation, collections of Polaroid shoots have made on different films, cameras and artists, and, finally, catalog of Polaroid instant cameras from beginning till legendary Polaroid SX-70 SLR.

The books has a lot of nudity photos and looks more Polaroid brand promotional than art photography book. Nevertheless, the books is interesting, has works of many famous artists like Robert Frank and Andy Warhol. Also it's cheap and consts of only $15 that is vary attractive for the such kind of books.

[Chris Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a person who has been photographing with Polaroid for the past few years, I really appreciate seeing what talented artists have been doing with the medium. It has given me many ideas, and an even greater appreciation for what makes these images special.

Polaroid is what digital photography is not. It emphasizes spontaneity, and cares more for the moment than technical precision, the interest in the subject over the zone system.

It also succeeds in making me want to take a special trip to the Polaroid Collection of Photography. Alas, I can't. The original company and its collection are gone, sold off in many parts.

[Lee Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic selection of Polaroid images on a variety of films, showing off just what could be done in the right hands. Sadly, Polaroid's recent rocky history seems to have resulted in the company's collection being split and sold off, but this book showcases some great work.

Accompanying text is minimal, the images speak for themselves.

Unfortunately, I've found the currently available Polaroid Originals films to be very poor compared to the old ones, but perhaps I'll blow the dust off my Polaroid camera and give it another chance.

[Chris Vidouras · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the carefree momentary snaps on a sunny day, to artistic nudes and the highly technical large format landscapes and still lifes of the masters, this book covers it all. It includes plenty of heavy household names, Andy Warhol, Robert Frank, Ansel Adams, Elsa Dorfman to mention a few while also offering a wide array of other less popular artists to discover. It takes one breath to go through it but it is definitely a book to return to. This one will be staying around.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who knew you could do more with Polaroids other than just nudes! 😆 (Although there are quite a few lovely ones in here too.) My one criticism of this collection is that the titles and dates of the work are all in the back and the artists’ names are barely perceptible along the sides. I get that they are trying to let the photos really shine, but it is not the most practical idea.

[Eva Gruss · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ñeh. Fotografías interesantes, algunas me han gustado y otras me han dado muy mala vibra. Eso sí, se te abren cantidad de posibilidades ante las viscitudes en que puede derivar el arte. Me falta más info sobre las imágenes. Me gustaría saber más sobre algunos de los procesos o técnicas que se han usado para tomarlas, así como la intención artística del autor.

[laura]

okay so I read a book online called Polaroid and I can't actually find the actual book for it on good reads, so we will use this as a reviewing thing. I read Polaroid in less than a day and it was such a rollercoaster of emotions, five stars!! Unfortunately, I can't find the actual book to rave about how adorable K and T are but yeah

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know it's highfalutin when there's that many photos of naked women in the collection, with the occasional sexualized child thrown in for gross measure. On the other hand, you know it's not the typical photography collection when there are that many women photographers included. So color me overall impressed what the fancy types have accomplished with Polaroid cameras.

[Olya Tomyshch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since childhood I was fascinated by the magic behind making a photo. Polaroid brings that feeling of almost touchable magic back. This book has a good amount of interesting works, however, doesn’t give good enough story behind the creation of this world, just a slight hint, imho.

[Beatrice De Filippis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The alchemy of Polaroids in a stunning ode to everyday life and plain, upfront ordinariness.
Both the lyrical poem of family albums in the mundanity of our small, immense personal worlds and the artistic eye of professional photographers.

[Lola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful. Moving. Inspirational. I really need to get a permanent copy of this.

[Robert Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of Instamatic images and a resource for the various camera models produced through the years.

[Pierpaolo Sicolo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un bellissimo stimolo creativo.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one. Reminded me a bit.

[Sanne Nadieh]

Good inspiration