Polaroid

Polaroid’s Last Flash

By Ron Sklar

FabulMag Contributing Writer

What a sad thing that the model Polariod has gone the way of the dinosaur, replaced by digital cameras.

Polaroids of models have been around as long as modeling agencies themselves. They were used to show clients what models look like, stripped down in all respects, without all the glitz and the glamour, without the super, soothing help of makeup artists and stylists.

This was the model in purest form, in the bleak, real light of day. This was the clay before the mold.

A “new face” would be presented by Polaroid first. A model just getting off the bus would be seen by clients by way of Polaroid, before even their first photography test, before even their first visit to the client’s office.

The most miraculous models would book jobs right off their Polariods! This was rare, but it happened, and it was uncanny.

A model Polaroid was the real deal. The client would see the model at his or her very basic best, usually with as much skin as possible. Blemishes and all. Photoshop was not a factor.

Of course, every smart modeling agent would do everything to market the model as effectively as possible, including taking dozens of Polaroids until the shot was right.

The act of taking a Polaroid picture of a model was akin to a sexual act: the Polaroids would be spread out on a table or on the floor, doing an opposite fade, slowly building to a climax of ectasy. The anticipation of how the shot would turn out was the stuff of legend, to see for real if the model’s raw sensuality would transfer to film.

A home-run Polaroid was money. It was a clear indication that the model had a future. There is nothing like a model in a slam-bang Polaroid.

Polaroid film was not cheap. Agencies would usually charge the model for the film they used on them. Sometimes not.

Polaroids often served a sentimental purpose. There was a nostalgia about seeing a model in his or her first photographs, before the cynicism set in and the rollercoaster ride began.

It was almost as if you were looking at baby pictures.

The logic of technological progress makes sense, of course, as Polaroid gives way to digital. With digital’s ability to tweak and correct, and to light and to edit, we have all become superstar photographers. It’s a wonder that it took this long to become a reality.

Still, digital can’t replace that fresh pack of Polaroid film, that blank canvas on which a model was made.

All questions or requests may be sent to info@fabulmag.com