Demonstration of instant photography

On 21 February 1947, Edwin Land (pictured) demonstrated instant photography at a meeting of the Optical Society of America in New York City. Prior to World War II, Land’s company, Polaroid, had made sheets of plastic that polarized light. In 1943 Land came up with the idea of applying that technology to build a camera that could develop photos within minutes. The camera would contain film for creating negatives and sheets for printing the final picture; in between were chemical reagents that transferred images from film to photograph. After several years of development, Land showed off the Polaroid instant camera for a crowd of optical physicists. The company’s Model 95 camera went on sale the following year.

For more on Land and his accomplishments, read the obituary written by Howard Berg in the April 1992 issue of Physics Today. (Photo credit: J. J. Scarpetti, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Physics Today Collection)

Date in History: 21 February 1947