The Camera Does the Rest

How Polaroid Changed Photography

Nonfiction, Art & Architecture, Photography, Pictorials, History, Americas, United States, 20th Century
Cover of the book The Camera Does the Rest by Peter Buse, University of Chicago Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Peter Buse ISBN: 9780226312163
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: May 27, 2016
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: Peter Buse
ISBN: 9780226312163
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: May 27, 2016
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

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, there’s 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 process—by 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 space—making 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.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

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, there’s 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 process—by 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 space—making 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.

More books from University of Chicago Press

Cover of the book When God Looked the Other Way by Peter Buse
Cover of the book General Relativity from A to B by Peter Buse
Cover of the book Artistic License by Peter Buse
Cover of the book Questioning Secularism by Peter Buse
Cover of the book Serious Larks by Peter Buse
Cover of the book Banking on Words by Peter Buse
Cover of the book Spinoza's Critique of Religion by Peter Buse
Cover of the book The Tango Machine by Peter Buse
Cover of the book Leo Strauss on Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Peter Buse
Cover of the book Insights in the Economics of Aging by Peter Buse
Cover of the book Authoritarianism by Peter Buse
Cover of the book Touching Encounters by Peter Buse
Cover of the book Iphigenia among the Taurians by Peter Buse
Cover of the book Moral Politics by Peter Buse
Cover of the book Lions in the Balance by Peter Buse
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy