Polaroid (polarizer) Polaroid (polarizer) Polaroid is a type of synthetic plastic sheet which is used as a polarizer or polarizing filter. A trademark of the Polaroid Corporation, the term has since entered common use. The original material, patented in 1929 and further developed in 1932 by Edwin H. Land, consists of many microscopic crystals of iodoquinine sulphate (herapathite) embedded in a transparent nitrocellulose polymer film. The needle-like crystals are aligned during manufacture of the film by stretching or by applying electric or magnetic fields. With the crystals aligned, the sheet is dichroic: it tends to absorb light which is polarized parallel to
Werner Pawlok In 1985 Kodak commissioned Pawlok for the series "Around the World in 40 days" shown at the 1986 photokina, Cologne in a solo exhibition. In 1988 he started working with the Polaroid 20×24-inch camera and moved to TriBeCa in New York City to work on his art projects. In the same year he invented the transfer technique using the 20×24 Polaroid Camera to start his series "Photography Paintings". With this series Werner Pawlok emphasizes his intention to dispel the traditional categorisation separating photography from painting. The concept of the shots aims to evoke the style of European classical portrait painting