大象传媒

Sir Ian Blatchford and Dr Tilly Blyth continue their series exploring how art and science have inspired each other with a focus on the Polaroid snapshot.

Edwin Land鈥檚 invention of near instantaneous photographs without the need for a darkroom, opened up an exciting new chapter of artistic expression and turned the snapshot into a way of exploring human perception.

As Tilly reveals, Land鈥檚 pioneering research lab at Polaroid was a convergence of art and technology. It led to new insights into how we as humans perceive coloured objects under many different conditions.

Land鈥檚 experimentation closely paralleled artist David Hockney鈥檚 foray into Polaroid photography in the early 1980鈥檚 His 鈥淪un on a Pool Los Angeles鈥� is a composite of 77 Polaroid snaps from different close up positions of the same scene. As Ian illustrates, Hockney set out to manipulate time and space in an attempt to turn a scene captured instantaneously by a camera, into one which more realistically reflects how we see in real life.

Producer Adrian Washbourne

Produced in Partnership with The Science Museum Group

Image reproduced permission of David Hockney Studios