How the soon-to-be-extinct Polaroid changed the American snapshot.

On Feb. 8, Polaroid announced that it's moving into the digital age and will soon stop producing its iconic instant film. (The company, which will turn its focus toward digital photography, printers, and flat panel televisions, stopped making instant cameras almost two years ago.) Polaroid has said that it will produce just enough film to last through 2009 but that it would be happy to consider selling the licensing rights to another company. Until then, fans of the Polaroid's spontaneous, casually intimate images are hastily stocking up on the film, which can still be purchased on the Polaroid Web site and on Amazon.com. Last fall, Mia Fineman offered a history of amateur photography in America, ending with a look at the power of Polaroids.

Click here  to read Mia Fineman's original slide show.

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