Polaroid film faces the final shutter

 

Polaroid film faces the final shutter

By Justin Baer in New York

Published: February 8 2008 23:48 | Last updated: February 8 2008 23:48

Polaroid, the US company that introduced instant photography 60 years ago, is to stop making film.

The group, which stopped making instant cameras a year ago, will now complete its transition to digital printers, televisions and DVD players by shutting four analogue film factories.

Polaroid cameras and the white-bordered prints they produced were common at family reunions and crime scenes alike for decades, reaching peak popularity during the 1960s and 1970s. They would also become a medium of choice for artists such as Ansel Adams, David Hockney and Robert Rauschenberg.

The advent of digital technology has pushed Eastman Kodak and other veteran manufacturers to abandon film production in recent years. Soon after Polaroid was sold to private investment firm Petters Group in 2005, the management started its own gradual retreat from analogue photography.

Polaroid will close two factories in Massachusetts as well as facilities in Mexico and the Netherlands, eliminating about 450 jobs. The company plans to make enough film to last customers until next year, Thomas Beaudoin, chief operating officer, said.

He said Polaroid’s consumer-electronics business generated almost $1bn in revenue. The company had high hopes for its battery-powered digital printers, and was in talks with mobile-phone carriers and other potential business partners.

He saw this transition as the start of a third era for Polaroid, which existed for its first few decades primarily as a maker of sunglasses and protective goggles for the US military.

Polaroid sold its eyecare division last year.

The company expects its mobile printers to attract even some of the most devout fans of instant photography. But for those unmoved by the technology, there is a chance another manufacturer will produce the film elsewhere.

Mr Beaudoin said: “We’re working very hard to find some alternatives with people who might be able to take the recipe.

“We can’t promise anything.”

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

FT.com / Companies / Consumer industries - Polaroid film faces the final shutter

Out of Africa - Reuters Photographers

Some of these images are very graphic and caution is advised

Out of Africa

February 9th, 2008, filed by David Viggers

I’ve been trying to write about some sport images that caught my eye while trawling through the Reuters file but I keep getting hung up on our pictures from Kenya.

George Philipas

They are so raw, so powerful and uncompromising that even the most accomplished images of cossetted sportsmen performing in completely controlled circumstances seem insignificant in comparison.

Subject: Ouch, that hurt!

An email form John D McHugh who has been shot while working in Afghanistan, for AFP as a photojournalist; his blog makes for an interesting read and shows the reality of what it is like to be a war photographer.

Hi Everyone,

I know that Helen has been emailing most of you thus far,but today I feel strong enough to write a short note.

So, yes, it happened, I got shot. And it sucked! And it still does. But, I am alive, and I consider myself very lucky. Some will say that a couple of inches to the left and I would be fine, but by the same train of thought a couple of inches the other way and I would....not be writing this email. Therefore, I am, once again, to be considered "lucky."

The whole story is too long and difficult for me to write out at the moment. The bare details are not. I was with an American/Afghan Army unit that was on a mission, when a different unit was ambushed close by. We were sent as a QRF (Quick Reaction Force) to help them, but walked into a second, lethal attack. I don't have all the details yet, but I know there were several people killed and wounded, including me. I was shot through the stomach,lower left abdomen, and the bullet damaged my colon and spleen before exploding out through my back. Ouch!

Thankfully I didn't pass out, but managed to take cover. We were in the middle of a big fight, so I think it was 10 or 15 minutes before the soldiers managed to get a dressing on me and get me into a Humvee, at which point we drove out of there, all guns blazing. In remained concious the whole time, and once back at the base, maybe 20 minutes over the worst roads in the world, I was evacuated by helicopter to a hospital, where I was operated on. Due to the injuries to my stomach and bowel, I have been given a colostomy bag ( all jokes welcome) and have been stapled back together. It looks like I have a zipper from my chest down to my groin as well as the entry wound in my stomach and exit hole in my back. So at least the scars will be dramatic.

After a few days I was flown out to a US military hospital hospital in Germany, where I am still. I am on lots of painkillers, my arms look like a pin cushion, and my torso looks like a patchwork quilt. Yes, I am still sore, but nothing like I was originally, so I don't want anyone worrying about me. I should make a full, if slow, recovery.

As soon as it is confirmed that I am returning to the UK, I will tell you more. And as soon as I can I will write out the whole story, and edit the photos. In the meantime, thanks for all the mails so far, and I will see you all soon.

Cheers,

"Lucky" John D

www.johndmchugh.com

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