Thanks to a well-developed love of instant photography, the assemblyman has a picture-perfect collection of Polaroid cameras — and memories
Assemblyman Stephen Silberkraus mainly shoots a Canon 5D Mark III these days, but the Republican from District 29 has a longstanding passion for Polaroid products that eclipses modern conveniences like “WiFi uploading” and “HDR imaging” and “clear, brightly colored pictures.”
“A lot of photos I’ve got (from) when I was a kid, if my dad’s in it, he’s holding a camera,” Silberkraus says. “Growing up, seeing that gave me a love of photography. I did it in elementary school, junior high, high school. I worked on the yearbook. Anything tied to photography.”
That childhood hobby turned into a lifelong passion that saw Silberkraus carve out a career doing multimedia production. Along the way, he’s shot models, musicians and the last days of the space shuttle program for NASA at the California Science Center.
At some point, politics beckoned. But that hasn’t slowed his interest in the shutterific arts. His Polaroid collection now numbers more than 350.
When the Polaroid Museum inside the Linq’s Polaroid Fotobar closed, Silberkraus wound up with most of the exhibits — shelving and all. “That whole timeline is in my garage. I have a museum ready to go if anybody has a place for it.”
Some of his favorite hardware:
Polaroid Model 95 (1)
The 95 was Polaroid founder Edward Land’s baby, the one that got the ball rolling on instant photography. It anticipated a modern sensibility in one crucial area. “They had these fantastic filters you could put on to do all the fancy effects you can do now in Instagram,” Silberkraus notes.
Polaroid SX-70 (2)
Lighter and tighter than the Model 95, the SX-70 could actually achieve pocket size. Which came into play when Silberkraus was climbing Ayers Rock in Australia. “(The tour guide said) ‘If you want to get out and enjoy the trails or possibly climb it, we’ll leave you for an hour and half and then we’ll come get you. But if you do, don’t be late, because you’re going to be stuck out in the middle of the desert.’ I threw my SX-70 in my back pocket and started up the side of the mountain. I’m climbing and climbing, and next thing I realize I’ve gotten up to the top, but it’s taken me the better part of an hour. I start running across the top of the mountain, half out of breath, pull the camera out of my pocket and take the photo, turn around, run back along the top of the mountain. I have about 15 minutes to get to the bottom. Thankfully, they could see me halfway down. I get down to the bottom and just as I’m about to get off, my camera starts to slip out of my pocket. I grab it in midair, but in the process I go off balance and twist my ankle. I’m hot and sweaty and tired and injured, but I got my shot.”
Polaroid Big Shot
This bad boy earns its name, dwarfing most other Polaroid bodies. The 1971 camera was designed for portraits, and the Andy Warhol favorite boasts two mirrors mounted top and bottom for focusing in the eyepiece — the photographer moves back and forth until the eyepiece image becomes clear — as well as a giant flash diffuser for Polaroid’s MagiCube system. It was good enough for Warhol portraits of Bianca Jagger and Jack Nicklaus, probably the only time those two had something in common.
Polaroid Spectra (3)
“It’s always been my favorite to shoot,” Silberkraus says. The Spectra line debuted in 1986 and offered bigger pics than previous models. “I’ve shot Polaroids everywhere from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to the Colosseum of Rome to the Eye (in London), the Sydney Opera House, the Statue of Liberty. I’ve probably got 3,000, 4,000 images I’ve captured around the world. Up to the first photo of my son being born is a Polaroid. Probably not one you want to see. It’s him, cord attached, and still a little red. I’m sure one day I’m going to get a hard time from him about that.”
Polaroid Swinger (4)
Technically the Model 20, the Swinger was a smash hit on its 1965 debut and had its own Barry Manilow-sung jingle to go with an Ali MacGraw-starring commercial. When the light was right, “YES” popped up in the viewfinder and you were good to shoot. Photography for even the most thumb-in-the-frame of us.