Book excerpt: From its inception in 1947, the Polaroid system inspired artists to experiment - to dazzling effect - with the cameras' unique technologies. Edwin Land, the inventor of the first Polaroid instant camera, remarked on his discovery, "Photography will never be the same." And he was right. This fascinating journey through the Polaroid era documents the evolution of instant photography. Hundreds of color images celebrate the myriad ways Polaroid photographs were used and ingeniously manipulated by Chuck Close, Walker Evans, David Hockney, Robert Mapplethorpe, Lucas Samaras, William Wegman, and others. In addition, the book features essays addressing the unique technology of instant photography and the marketing genius of the Polaroid Corporation. Interviews with artists reveal how Polaroids affected and, in many instances, forever changed the way artists captured the world around them. AUTHOR: Mary-Kay Lombino is the Emily Hargroves Fisher '57 and Richard B. Fisher Curator at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She has curated several exhibitions including Off the Shelf: New Forms in Contemporary Artists' Books and Utopian Mirage: Social Metaphors in Contemporary Photography. ILLUSTRATIONS: 230 photos