My Official Statement Regarding the State of Polaroid Film

I heard the announcement when we just happened to be watching World Nightly News the other night, and since then several concerned friends and family members have been sure to contact me.

Polaroid, that company so near and dear to our nostalgic hearts, has announced that they've finally realized shaking it like a Polaroid picture is SO 1980's, and they've decided to vest their interests in this newfangled technology they just discovered called digital photography.

They're shutting down their film factories by the end of the year.

This is indeed sad news. As a Polaroid enthusiast, not only was I heartbroken to hear the news, I immediately began to panic, wanting to go out and buy the shelves of film I could find before word spread and prices skyrocketed.

(I mean, there are A LOT of people worried about this, right? I'm not the only one, am I?)

I could sit around and mourn, I could stock up, I could pay exorbitant prices from the black market.

Instead, I've decided to put my faith in a Wall Street Journal article I read, stating that Polaroid is trying to sell its instant-film technology to a third-party who would begin producing the film. That's right. All hope is not lost. We might still get our film.

I mean, can you really imagine a world of antique Polaroid cameras sitting around with no beautiful film to put inside? (Hmm. At the rate you've all tossed your film-loading cameras aside for your Kodak EasyShares, you probably can. But I can't! ) There's gotta be a camera company out there that cares enough not to let this happen, even if it's a company run by photography nerds.

And at any rate, upon recently looking again at the coffee-table book of my Polaroid pictures, I was reminded that I was never very good at the art form in the first place.

So, that is my response, and my official statement.

But just in case it's not as sure of a thing as I think it might be, and you want to help us Polaroid Freaks save the art form, sign the petition here.

And lest you think I'm the only one who enjoys something as silly as Polaroids, the only person nerdy enough to care, here are a few sites to check out. If you know of any others, add them to the list in the comments.
Polaroid on Flickr
Polanoid
The Lovely Road
Grant Hamilton
Pola-Project

And whatever the case may be, not that 120-film is any safer from being doomed to the digital age, but I don't feel quite as threatened by the news since I have started turning my attention to the similar feel but higher class of the Holga plastic camera anyway, as mentioned here.