The post-Polaroid age: some still cling to instant film

Other instant-film artists have been using expired film or a blend that was temporarily manufactured in Europe. Polaroid says supplies of most of its films are expected to last into 2009.

While some consumers lament the end to the firm's iconic 600-series film cartridges, which developed glossy, colorful square images inside a white rectangular frame, the company says instant is here to stay – it has simply shifted to the adapting consumer market, a digital one. But it has not abandoned its speed-to-paper heritage. Later this year, Polaroid plans to introduce small, inkless printers using Zink Imaging technology. The portable printers heat dye crystals on paper, which will develop full-color images transmitted from cellphones and digital cameras.

As costs for the remaining analog film rise, a generation of artists may rethink their technique. That is, unless campaigns to save the processing prevail.

Sean Tubridy, a graphic designer in Minneapolis, has started SavePolaroid.com. Nearly 4,000 people have downloaded press kits urging film companies Ilford Photo and Fujifilm to buy the manufacturing rights to Polaroid's instant-film business.

Ilford, a British firm, has entered into discussions with Polaroid about the possibility of taking on the production of its instant black-and-white films, says a spokesperson.

FujiFilm says consumers have petitioned to the company to expand its own existing instant-film lines.

"There was some speculation and talk about this," says Diane Rainey, Fujifilm's corporate communications director. "They say, 'Gee, they do instant film. Maybe they'll pick up what Polaroid was doing.' [But] we have no plans to pick up where they left off."

"A lot of my friends that shoot this stuff are heartbroken," says Mr. Kennedy, the Brooklyn photographer. "People will find different ways to make art."

For Dorfman, her art won't transition to digital cameras and inkjets. "I don't see me doing what I do in digital," she says. "I'd be like learning ballet all of a sudden. Or ice skating. Or piano."

Instant film, however, is unlikely to regain enough mass appeal to make its production viable.

"In the end it's going to come down to a business decision," Mr. Winfield says. "The company's not going to save it [just] for these people that are nostalgic for the film."

But that hasn't stopped the hopeful speculation among diehard fans about forming a distributor that would market instant films manufactured by another filmmaking company.

"We're cautiously approaching doing it ourselves," Mr. Tubridy says. "We have no idea what's really involved. Starting a business for a niche product is not something you do on a whim."

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