Research Catalog

The camera does the rest : how Polaroid changed photography

Title: The camera does the rest : how Polaroid changed photography / Peter Buse.
Author: Buse, Peter, 1970-
Publication: Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, [2016]

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	JBE 17-139	Schwarzman Building - General Research Room 315
Request for On-site Use Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	JFE 16-10720	Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description

xiii, 308 pages; 24 cm

Summary

In a world where nearly everyone has a cellphone camera capable of zapping countless instant photos, it can be a challenge to remember just how special and transformative Polaroid photography was in its day. And yet, theres still something magical for those of us who recall waiting for a Polaroid picture to develop. Writing in the context of two Polaroid Corporation bankruptcies, not to mention the obsolescence of its film, Peter Buse argues that Polaroid was, and is, distinguished by its processby the fact that, as the New York Times put it in 1947, "the camera does the rest." Polaroid was often dismissed as a toy, but Buse takes it seriously, showing how it encouraged photographic play as well as new forms of artistic practice. Drawing on unprecedented access to the archives of the Polaroid Corporation, Buse reveals Polaroid as photography at its most intimate, where the photographer, photograph, and subject sit in close proximity in both time and spacemaking Polaroid not only the perfect party camera but also the tool for frankly salacious pictures taking. Along the way, Buse tells the story of the Polaroid Corporation and its ultimately doomed hard-copy wager against the rising tide of digital imaging technology. He explores the continuities and the differences between Polaroid and digital, reflecting on what Polaroid can tell us about how we snap photos today. Richly illustrated, The Camera Does the Rest will delight historians, art critics, analog fanatics, photographers, and all those who miss the thrill of waiting to see what develops.--Publisher description.

Subjects

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-296) and index.

Contents

Introduction -- Just a toy -- Intimate, one of a kind -- Polaroid and digital -- Polaroid attractions -- Polaroid values -- Just for snapshots? -- Conclusion.

Call Number

JBE 17-139

ISBN

9780226176383 (cloth : alk. paper)
022617638X (cloth : alk. paper)

LCCN

2015024891

OCLC

912507912

Author

Buse, Peter, 1970- author.

Title

The camera does the rest : how Polaroid changed photography / Peter Buse.

Publisher

Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, [2016]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-296) and index.

Research Call Number

JBE 17-139

JFE 16-10720

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