Killed By Crafts: Fans of instant film rejoice!

Kittery Point, Maine
(Clearly this was taken by Dave, not me)

Last February I was quite saddened to learn that Polaroid would be ceasing production of its instant film products. The demand for instant film has most certainly decreased dramatically, considering that digital technology that has more or less rendered it obsolete--but there's something about those square format images, the labels (which I never find myself filling in), the film loudly spitting out of the camera, staring at that white square waiting for the image to fade into view, and the lovely washed out colors that I find totally alluring and desirable. There's a niche market out there for this product, and while I can't say how many people feel this way, I know that there are a considerable number of them.

When I heard the news I made sure to quickly buy up a good supply online, which turned out to be a prudent move because when I returned to the same site to restock, they were permanently out of stock, as was every other online source I tried. Prices for the film continue to soar on eBay. Now down to the last 2 packs of film in our household, I was getting ready to say goodbye. Until yesterday, when I saw this.

Granted, we won't be seeing the results for at least a year, and who knows what they mean by their plan "to develop a new product with new characteristics, consisting of new optimised components, produced with a streamlined modern setup. An innovative and fresh analog material, sold under a new brand name that perfectly will match the global re-positioning of Integral Films"? But someone is working to keep the instant film flame alive, and that's enough to make me think there's a chance that our camera will not be shelved after taking 20 more photographs.

Dave is actually the most frequent user of Polaroid film in my household, and many of his photographs can be seen here. Here's a sampling of some of my favorite shots I've taken: