Shake it – a modern Polaroid love story

Can you hear it? Click, whir, wait, shake – ahhhh! 

Listen Thursday night at 9 p.m. on West Virginia Public Radio, Shake it- a modern Polaroid love story.

Taking a Polaroid picture is a totally sensory experience. But it is more than just the sensation of a snapshot; there is something special and social about seeing, giving & receiving that white-framed photo.

Taking and sharing instant digital photos these days is second nature. But what is it about that white-framed, square pic that survives in our digital lives (hello, Instagram)?  Does it make moments more special? Do the vintage-y filters make our art history?  Or our history art?  Why has the Polaroid design so clearly marked current digital photography apps and photography memes?  This nostalgic devotion is simply amazing – and Polaroid is seeing a recent resurgence in popularity, even as a Polaroid Museum opens in Las Vegas in Spring, 2014.

We look at these human and visual connections in “Shake It”, an hour-long public media documentary. We weave personal narrative with interviews with experts and enthusiasts in the world of art and film, Polaroid history & digital photography, technology and design. “Shake it” has rich and diverse music, sound effects and sound beds – including shutter clicks, a vintage Eames Studio ad for Polaroid, a pop music parody and more.

Hear vox pop and short interviews with Polaroid photographers and enthusiasts, such as polaroidsf.com . We talk with Christopher Bonanos , author of  “Instant: The Story of Polaroid.” And with Dave Bias, who created savepolaroid.com and now is Vice President of The Impossible Project , a company that saved hundreds of thousands of vintage Polaroid cameras from extinction. And we sit with Gus Van Sant , noted film director and Polaroid photographer, to talk about how he used Polaroid photos in his creative process.