HOME / recycled: Previously published Slate articles made new.

One Last ShakeHow the soon-to-be-extinct Polaroid changed the American snapshot.

By Mia FinemanPosted Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008, at 5:16 PM ET

Click here to launch a slide show.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.

.

Print This ArticlePRINTEmail to a FriendE-MAILShare This ArticleRECOMMEND...Get Slate RSS FeedsRSS
Mia Fineman is a writer and curator in New York.
What did you think of this article?
Join The Fray: Our Reader Discussion Forum
POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES
TODAY'S PICTURES
TODAY'S CARTOONS
TODAY'S DOONESBURY
TODAY'S VIDEO
It's like riding a bicycle. 18/090710_TP.jpg
Cartoonists' take on Russia.11/090710_TC.jpg
Gram's the word.56/090710_TD.jpg