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Page 12 The Antique Shoppe August, 2018
1972: Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera

By: Cheyenne Cannon

In a recent exchange between Florida
museums, the Boca Raton Museum of
Art deaccessioned and donated over
360 vintage and antique cameras to the
Southeast Museum of Photography. More
than any other medium, photography
has been shaped by the technology
used to create it, and in the process of
cataloging these cameras the staff of the
Southeast Museum of Photography have
identified a few outstanding examples of
the evolution of the camera. One of those Today, the SX-70 Land Camera and
specimens is the 1972 Polaroid SX-70 its film are just as beloved. Seventy
Land Camera. years after the breakthrough invention
A tremendous success, the SX-70 of the Model 95 and eighty years after
made Polaroid synonymous with The revolutionary camera made the the founding of Polaroid, they have
automatic film development – becoming cover of TIME and LIFE magazines, and come back to create chemistry. Known
such a staple of ‘70s life that, at one point, even with the $180 price tag (equivalent as Polaroid Originals, a brand dedicated
Americans reportedly spent more money to about $1000 today) plus the $7 you to analog instant photography in the
on Polaroid film than on toothpaste. had to spend for 10-picture film pack, it original, iconic format. Honoring the
To understand the significance of still managed to sell over 700,000 units “It is an interesting experience to see legacy of Polaroid and Edwin H. Land
the SX-70 one must first look at its by mid-1974. When introduced, Mr. Land how all of Absolute One-Step Photography himself, Polaroid Originals refurbish and
predecessor, the Model 95, Polaroid’s claimed the SX-70 contained 20,000 can happen very simply if it happens continue to sell many original models of
first consumer camera produced in technical breakthroughs- all of them sequentially, involving both the camera Polaroid cameras as well as manufacture
1947. A significant specimen in its own accomplished by Polaroids own engineers. and film in some two hundred to five film - the iconic SX-70, of course, included.
right, the Model 95 was the first camera In fact, the company even manufactured hundred steps… Although many vintage Polaroids
to use instant film to quickly produce just about every component of the SX-70 “When the film is ejected potassium are still accessible today, all good things
photographs without developing them itself in its Boston factory. hydroxide in a few drops of water is will come to an end. Fortunately, due to
in a lab. The popular Model 95 and The development of the SX-70 camera spread in a layer 26/10,000-inch-thick and the recent exchange between the Boca
subsequent Land Camera models required and film was the crowning chapter for the ‘all hell breaks loose,’ but in a much more Raton Museum of Art and the Southeast
complex procedures to take and produce Polaroid system. The project represented orderly way than that phrase implies. For Museum of Photography, many Polaroid
quality photographs. Photographic ultimate simplicity and reward for several minutes chemical reactions occur originals will live on.
paper had to be manually removed photographers – all they had to do was rapidly one step after another in that The Southeast Museum of
from cameras and peeled open after 60 press the shutter and watch as the image thin sandwich and then this progression Photography in Daytona Beach, Florida
seconds, requiring several minutes to dry- appeared before their eyes. Of course, slowly stops. There is peace again and the houses over 5,000 photographs and
often leaving developing chemicals on the developing something that simple, picture is complete.” photographic ephemera. The museum
hands of the photographer. Some early ironically, does not come easy. The simplicity of the SX-70 system hosts 10 to 12 exhibitions per year,
films even required additional steps by The development of the SX-70 and its for photographers belied its technical provided workshops, lectures, and curates
the user, such as swabbing the developed film required a complete reformulation complexity. Within the 2-millimeter-thick a file series for the fall and spring. To keep
image with a coating to stabilize it or of the Polaroid system. Above all, the film unit was a sandwich of thin polymer up with all of the museum’s offerings or
adhering the image to a hard backing to film was integral, meaning that the sheets, a positive image-receiving sheet, to see what is currently on display, visit
prevent curling. negative, positive, and developers were reagent, timing and light reflecting layers, our website at SMPonline.org
It is difficult to get across just how all contained within a film unit and and the tri-color negative—17 layers in
magical the SX-70 must have appeared would remain there after developing. total. The camera itself, was of course, Cheyenne Cannon is a photographer and writer in
when Polaroid co-founder Edwin H. To accomplish this, the positive layers beautiful. A remarkably sleek design, Central Florida, and the collections manager at the
Land first demonstrated it in 1972 at had to be transparent to allow light to making the SX-70 appealing to just Southeast Museum of Photography.
the company’s annual meeting inside penetrate them and expose the negative, about anyone.
of the Polaroid warehouse in Needham, below. Polaroid’s solution was to develop By the 1970’s Polaroid was
Massachusetts a chemical opacifier—a chemical screen already a giant in the camera
Pictures from the SX-70 ejected that was clear when undeveloped but and film industry. The SX-70 Land
automatically and developed quickly opaque immediately when ejected from Camera, however, made Polaroid’s
without chemical residue. On stage, the camera and able to become clear name synonymous with instant
Edwin Land took out a folded SX-70 again to reveal the developed image. film development—one push on
from his suit coat pocket and in just ten Simplifying the complexity of this the shutter to capture, develop,
seconds took five pictures- a previously undertaking, Mr. Land described the project and print your pictures within
impossible feat. to The Photographic Journal in 1974: seconds.