Eighty years ago, a company called Polaroid sprouted from a garage not far from the current location of the MrMobile studio. The company’s founder soon developed a special polarization technology that was rapidly adopted across a slew of products ranging from desk lamps to sunglasses. That work later led to military contracts including pilot goggles, spy satellites, and a special synthetic quinine for treating malaria in troops serving in tropical regions. While that last bit sounds out of character for a company specializing in optical science, it isn’t: quinine has photosensitive properties that make it useful for photography. Over the next 40 years that’s where Polaroid built its empire: with instant cameras that didn’t need a darkroom to develop their film. ... Read More | Share it now!