vintage magazine, polaroid, thoughtful bloggy friend ~ all the elements of a great story

Yesterday I teased you with this ~ and the eagle-eyed would have spotted what I was so excited about.

This is of course the lovely package I received from Nic ~ and see the coverline on the magazine. Dr Edwin Land gives it away.

Okay, so confessions, I squealed a little when I opened this. It was so sweet of Nic to see this, buy it and send to me. This is a Life Magazine from October 1972, the cover story of which features Dr Edwin Land’s “latest bit of magic” ~ the Polaroid Sx-70. The SX-70 was the first instant SLR and had an innovative folding design, and is favoured by many bloggers and polaroid enthusiasists today for the soft and dreamy quality of the photos it produces.

Back in 1972, the SX-70 was due to go on sale the following month for the price of $180. Film was expected to cost 50c per print and come in packs of 10. At the time, of the five billion photos snapped by amateurs in the US each year, 20 per cent were Polaroids.

And this from Dr Land:

Some people feel that the Polaroid camera is strictly an amateur product that does nothing to develop the artistic expression of photography. What I contend is that far from taking creativity away from people, we provide an opportunity for creativity that other photography doesn’t allow.

Prophetic words, still true today. I think Dr Land would have loved to see how revered, loved and sought-after his Polaroid cameras are today, and the creativity that whirrs out of the camera in the hands of some amazing photographers.