At first, the group of children looked at the small square of glossy white paper like I had made a mistake. It is not entirely unusual, after all, for visitors and staff from NGOs to come to their village in northern Bangladesh brandishing cameras and politely asking to take their pictures. The visitors, so the pattern goes, then turn the camera around and show the picture on the small screen to the kids assembled.
So this blank piece of polaroid paper I handed them was met with skeptical glances and uncertainty about how to respond…but only for a moment.
Slowly, shapes — then faces — emerged on the small 2-by-3-inch paper. Within minutes, dozens of children, mothers, and young adults appeared, shaking, fanning, and blowing gently on their own small polaroid photos, trying to speed up the all-too-slow “instant” developing process. Every few seconds they would check the glossy side of the page to make sure it was still working.