To my surprise, I’ve ended up appreciating this film. It’s distant enough in time to take a measured, meditative look at this cultural moment. The Culture Wars constituted one of the rare moments in American history in which photographs and photography took center stage in the national consciousness. It was the medium’s most “teachable moment” to date. If I wanted to take a class of students back to that moment, to teach it myself again today some two decades down the line, I might well start with this movie. […]
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The Polaroid Corporation gave away tons (literally) of free film to teachers, particularly those teaching kids in K-12 programs in schools and in after-school/alternative programs. The company also lent and often donated cameras (especially SX-70s) to such programs. They offered workshops for K-12 teachers in how to use photography (and especially instant photography) in teaching different subject areas within their curricula. They published a substantial workbook filled with ideas and assignments. . . . […] As an observer of the national and international photo scenes since 1967, I can safely say that no major manufacturer of photographic tools and materials demonstrated more open-handedness — or even-handedness — than the Polaroid Corporation in supplying its products to artists, photographers, and photo teachers (not just post-secondary but K-12 also), in large and sometimes endless quantities. […] Certainly no one expected any corner of the photo world to become entangled in the elaborate, byzantine schemes that have made headline news recently and brought down investment scammers such as the visibly non-archival Bernie Madoff. But that’s exactly what’s happened to the Polaroid Collection, which now faces a distinctly uncertain fate. It’s caught up in the international fiscal crisis — because Polaroid’s assets were purchased in 2004 by alleged Minnesota Ponzi schemer Tom Petters, presently in jail and awaiting trial on these charges in September 2009. Under these circumstances, title to ownership of the works isn’t clear; it seems likely the Petters fraud case will drag on for years, leaving the collection in limbo until it concludes. . . . […] |
 SPJ Research Award 2014 |
Digital Lens Culture: Incident I
We talk so much about what we’ve lost as a consequence of the shift from analog to digital in photography and the other lens-based media — almost exclusively it’s the down side that preoccupies us in that conversation. We need to balance that with thoughtful consideration of the benefits. This car crash in front of our house and its aftermath (including this post) represent the most trivial examples. But our record of it, and this internationally available communication about it, exist due to exactly the same cluster of enabling technologies as the one now driving Iran toward reconfiguration as a more open society. . . . […]