At my birthday picnic this weekend, Danny pulled out his latest ebay purchase – an old school Polaroid camera. I have never seen my technophile crew act like such giddy children around such an analogue device. It’s amazing how far digital camera technology has come, but there is a lot to be said for setting up the right moment and taking the right picture, rather than taking half a dozen on a digital one and hoping that one will turn out right. Anyway, Danny only took the one picture (pictures work out at over £1 each), but all of us took turns shaking it and watching it with joy at seeing ourselves appear – even if we did wind up looking like the cast of a mid nineties sitcom.
I’m very sad to hear that Polaroid have stopped making their instant film, I think there’s something really romantic about picking up a half faded Polaroid, the fuzzy edges and the tactile pleasure that let imagination and memory run away a bit more.