Long before smartphones put a camera in every pocket, Edwin Land had already imagined — and built — a world where photography could be instant.
Mr. Polaroid, a new documentary from PBS’s American Experience, premieres on May 19 and charts Land’s revolutionary journey from scientific dreamer to technological icon. Directed by Gene Tempest and produced by Amanda Pollak, the film offers a vivid portrait of the man whose vision made the darkroom portable.
In 1947, Land stunned the press by demonstrating a prototype Polaroid camera capable of developing photos moments after they were taken — a feat that, at the time, seemed as fantastical as teleportation. By Christmas 1948, the first Polaroid camera was on sale in Boston, forever changing the relationship between people and photography.
But Mr. Polaroid is not just a celebration of triumphs. The documentary also explores the high cost of innovation: risky financial ventures, a bruising legal battle with Kodak, and Land’s increasingly obsessive belief that technology could bridge society’s divisions. Though hailed as a genius — a proto-Steve Jobs, some say — Land’s story is as much about the perils of ambition as it is about brilliance.
