In today’s world of cellphones and digital data, is instant film making a come back? Why has is become so popular and is it here to stay? Read on to find out what is considered instant and why it is most likely going to stick around for a long time, as history repeats itself.
What is instant film?
Instant film can be described as a Polaroid, but that is not the formal definition of what it is. In fact Polaroid was the first company to really introduce instant film and inadvertently everyone now calls many of the types of instant film a Polaroid. So what is it?
Instant film, is simply that… once the photo is taken you get an instant print out of the photo. The print out comes from the camera itself, when the camera shutter is hit it exposes the film to light and it captures the image, the film then prints out of the camera and develops in minutes. With that it gives the user the ability to have their image in physical form quicker.
why did it become popular when it was invented?
Instant film became popular when it was invented because of ease of access. The cameras at the time were film cameras. Now if you know anything about film, it takes time to get your images back and printed. So instant film took away the wait time and the process of using extensive chemicals and specialized rooms in order to get an image.
When they were invented film cameras ment taking the photo, properly removing the film from the camera. Then getting it to a dark room, where there is not a single bit of light removing it from the roll and putting it in a set of chemicals all while not being able to see. It then sat in a canister as it developed, once a period of time went by you add more chemicals to the canister. Once the development process of the film has been completed you can remove it and dry it, this is where you can finally start to see the images you created. Once the film is dry you then get to choose the image you want to print on paper.
Then printing process required a whole different type of room. In order to use the photo paper the only light color allowed to be used is red or you risk exposing the entire paper and not getting an image. Then through special film set ups you slide your negative in till it’s at the photo you want, put your paper down and turn on a light that shines through the negative. From this you are exposing the paper to develop the photo. Depending on the photo you need to expose it to light for a set amount of time, though no photo is ever the same. After the negative is transferred to the paper another set of chemicals is used to develop the paper, then stop the development then it is washed with water. Then only at that point can you hang up the paper to let it dry and see the image that you have created.
This process takes plenty of time, knowledge and experience to do. It also means having access to the chemicals and other specialized supplies in order to get an image. So when instant film came out being able to snap a photo and have if print out in seconds and develop in minutes was amazing. It made being able to have those memories in hand so much quicker at the time.
Why is instant film popular today?
When everyone thinks of photos today, we all think of digital images on our phone. We have access to them immediately and can pull up things from years ago in seconds. Digital photos are easy to have in an instant then we can print them when we want and have physical copies and that only takes having a printer in your house or going to a store for twenty minutes. So why would instant film be as popular as it is today?
Personally I feel there is a nostalgia behind it, some of use grew up in the not so digital age with our parents who did not have much technology. So it feels like home, being able to have photos in hand because lets face it not many of us print our phone photos as often as we want. But being able to have a photo print out and have it in hand just like when we grew up is very nostalgic. My family had a few very large tins of photos printed that had so many memories that when I was moving out of the house and going through was a nice collection of memories.
Instant film is a way to capture the now and keep it with you in the age of digital media. It is the quickest way to get a print of a special moment. In addition there are no copies of instant film, the one you shoot is the one you get. If you have three friends and all of them want a photo, each friend will get a specialized one of its kind image. Instant film to this day stays popular because it is truly one of a kind. It is nostalgic and it allows you to live in the moment.
While digital images are great and easy to have, the ability to have an image on paper that is unique and special to you will always hold a space in human culture. The ease of access now to get instant film and to be able to take photos makes it even more popular. Additionally, in a society that truly loves instant gratification, instant film means no waiting around to see the images give it a few minutes and you can look at your prints.
For the longest time I didn’t know if I would ever use an instant film camera. But I have found that sometimes it’s nice to put the digital camera down and play with a camera that might not have perfect images. There is an imperfection to these types of images that reminds us that we are human and nothing is perfect, sometimes one blurry over or under exposed image might be good enough for us because of the story behind it and the memories it gives us.
What are your thoughts? Do you see instant film sticking around forever, or is it just a matter of time that it goes away?