History: Hopefully someday we will be able to compile a thorough history of all the folks who've contributed to and worked with 20x24. The following is a sliver of the story.

The 1970s were a time of rich growth, experimentation, and innovation. During this decade, Polaroid introduced an improved version of their Polacolor film (Polacolor II-1975), and began offering instant film for the 8"x10" format.

These two developments inspired the idea for a very large camera to show the quality of the new color film. A rough prototype 20"x24" camera was quickly assembled, followed by another prototype, and finally, five finished cameras offering the best of everything learned in the design stages. Polaroid began inviting well known artists/photographers to create work with the camera. In exchange for studio time and materials, Polaroid would keep some of the images for the collection. The camera/studio was also available on a rental basis for commercial assignments.

In 1980 John Reuter became the Technical and Artistic Director of the 20x24 Studio. As an artist himself, John worked closely with the client artists/photographers to help realize their concepts and ultimately produced the many bodies of artwork that stood on their own, transcending the novelty of the camera itself.

In the fall of 1982, the camera was moved to a studio at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston. In addition to the location change, a class was created to allow students access to the camera. I first took that class, then became an assistant in the studio.

With increasing demand for the camera in the commercial world, Reuter found himself traveling back and forth in rental trucks between Boston and New York.

In 1986 John Reuter opened the Polaroid 20x24 studio to New York, leaving the Boston Studio in the care of his first assistant, Ian Churchill. I continued to assist in the studio until the end of 1988, and I became Director of the Boston Studio in January of 1989.

In 1997 Calumet Photographic hired me to set up and operate a 20x24 studio in San Francisco. (with a hybrid camera, assembled from spare parts and a new Wisner 20x24 field camera front) In 2001 I left Calumet to open The Polaroid 20x24 Studio West, now housed at LEFT SPACE STUDIO (see the "links" and "rental" pages) in San Francisco.

From 2001 - 2006 or so Wisner Mfg. offered for sale a Polaroid back and processor for use with their 20x24 field camera. 20x24 Holdings uses one of these systems for testing film in their Lab today.

In late 2008, Mammoth Camera Company received a commission to build an all-new "all-in-one" 20x24 camera for Polaroid film, completed in May 2009.

Both the New York and San Francisco Studios continue operation.

Tracy Storer, 2003 updated 8/2010

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