To me photography is as much art as any painting or sculpture. I’m sure my bias comes from working for Polaroid for 20 plus years starting in the late 1970’s …. During that time, I grew to love great photographs knowing intimately what went into their making. Over my career at Polaroid I worked with almost every aspect of film and camera manufacturing such as Q&A, film, reagent development and technical support.
I learned by witnessing the art of photography from some of the most brilliant, creative and talented people of that time. In the early days the hallways, stairwells and offices were strewn with original photographs produced with Polaroid products.
Ansel Adams and William Wegman were some of my favorite Images to pass by each day. Ansel’s work (Below) is describe as an example of beauty in nature and 
Wegman’s (Above) was more the nature of beauty. If you can imagine yourself working in an art gallery that also made art tools ….that was life at Polaroid.
Ansel Adams worked as a consultant to Polaroid Corporation during which he became close friends with Dr. Edwin Land. Adams the artist and Land the inventor inspired each other to explore new directions in their respective fields. This long-term collaboration resulted in Adams and Land going on many expeditions together to test film and equipment generating many wonderful test shots that made their way back to the walls of the research labs on Osborn Street, Cambridge.
The on Monday April 23nd something happened that changed the environment at Polaroid for me. Walking up the stairwell to the Q&A lab where I worked, I noticed that the artwork I was so used to enjoying was missing …only the grime frame marking where left the photos had been. I thought to myself that the hallway must be getting ready for new paint… the building felt strange.. naked ..without character…
What I did not know then was that Ansel Adams has passed away the day before, Sunday April 22nd. By afternoon Polaroid Security was seen roaming the halls looking for anything Adams. They were given a mission to secure his works ….
In just one day those images went from random images to valuable collectables and were being confiscated for storage in the company archives. Funny…. how a simple photograph is in one movement examples of test prints for product development and in the next a valued collection for preservation.
I never reconciled for myself if I was happy or sad that employees got to most of the artwork in the hallways before the Security detail did. In some respects this was a labor of their love, their legacy, fruits of their ingenuity …who better to own and love it. On the other hand it was company property…to be stored and preserved in the company achieves for posterity… Secretly I’m glad they got to them first.
I still see them however, as images in the hallways of my mind …
The Bow Legged Blogger 
My late brother had a Polaroid Land Camera in the early 1970’s, and it also left images in my mind as well. The photos that he took may not have been the quality of that of Mr. Adams and others, but those few photos that remain are invaluable to me. Not only the images, but the smell of that gooey fixer thing that was in the black tube with the blue lid, will forever be a memory for me.
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Chris,
You are correct the gooey substance was the fixer ….used for B/W film types like 107. Thanks for taking the time to write… Hope all is well and your training is moving along.
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