American manufacturer of cameras, film, and optical equipment founded by Edwin Herbert Land (Land, Edwin Herbert) (1909–91), who invented instant photography.

The company originated in 1932 as the Land-Wheelwright Laboratories, which Land founded with George Wheelwright to produce Land's first invention, an inexpensive plastic-sheet light polarizer. By 1936 Land began to use polarized material in sunglasses and other optical devices, and in 1937 the company was incorporated under the Polaroid name.

During the 1930s and '40s Polaroid introduced a three-dimensional motion-picture process and polarized optical devices for military use. After World War II Land began to research an instantaneous developing film, and in 1947 the company brought out the Polaroid Land camera, which delivered a finished sepia-toned print 60 seconds after exposure. In the 1950s the cameras were refined to produce black-and-white prints in 15 seconds; in the 1960s a colour-developing process and film cartridges were introduced. The company introduced the compact Polaroid SX-70 in 1972. In addition to further technical refinements, the SX-70 combined both negative and positive prints in a single sheet. Instant motion pictures were introduced in 1977. After Land retired as chief executive officer in 1980, Polaroid continued to develop new products for professional, technical, and consumer markets. These included cameras, high-speed film, digital photography equipment, and identity verification equipment for security systems.