The Impossible Has Happened: Polaroid Is Back

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Founders of The Impossible Project have just announced a huge deal: Polaroid instant cameras and film are coming back to the market in 2010. After being discontinued over the past few years, Polaroid fans have lamented the lack of film packs, and many commercial Polaroid instant camera users (for example, in the fashion industry) have been buying up all remaining film stock, making it very hard to come by a pack of Polaroid instant film.

The folks at The Impossible Project -- a project to re-start production of analog instant film that is Polaroid-compatible, using an old Polaroid plant in the Netherlands -- have announced that The Summit Global Group (the folks who own the Polaroid instant camera brand now) will be re-launching several popular Polaroid cameras, and the film (including both color and black-and-white versions) in early 2010.

Get ready to shake it like a Polaroid picture, people. (Note: it is not recommended that you shake a Polaroid. It doesn't help. Seriously.)

Remembering Jamie Livingston, Polaroid-a-Day Photographer

Last year I posted what has become my most-read blog post ever: He Took a Polaroid Every Day, Until the Day He Died, the story of Jamie Livingston, a man who documented his life (and death from cancer) via daily Polaroid photographs. After the publication of that story, Livingston was added to Wikipedia, he was featured in the New York Times and Fox News, I was interviewed (along with several of Livingston's friends -- who actually did the work of putting his photos online, rather than me just writing about it) on Canadian Public Radio, and much more. Without giving too much away, let's just say that Livingston's friends are actively carrying on his legacy both in displaying his work and writing about his life. So, fans of Livingston's work: stay tuned, this story isn't over.

Meanwhile, if you haven't read it, I urge you to read the blog post that started it all. For what it's worth, the story was mentioned today on Twitter by both Alyssa Milano and Chris Hardwick, among others. Remember, you can see Livingston's photos here. You can also read various blogs about Livingston by his friends Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid (who appear in many of the photos, and did the work of rephotographing and displaying them both online and at Bard College).

(The photo above is Livingston's Photo of the Day from January 23, 1986.)