A group of dedicated and determined dreamers have announced they're producing film for the original point-and-click Polaroid camera.
The company that made the clunky, foldable contraption that spat out individual photographs has been disintegrating over the last decade, and last year Polaroid announced it would cease production entirely.
But now through the Impossible Project, a group of Polaroid geeks based in Enschede, Netherlands, is set to revive large-scale production of the SX-70/600 film system, with worldwide sales beginning early next year. The first film would be black and white, with colour to follow later in the year, the project said.
"It's one of the most fascinating and most creative inventions in the history of photography," Marlene Kelnreiter, spokeswoman for the Impossible Project, told The Star Wednesday morning.
"It's magical and special in a way that no other photography has come up with. When you hold a Polaroid in your hand, you see it develops in ways you can't foresee. That makes the outcome very charming. All these high resolution pictures, people are starting to get bored with it."
The timing of the announcement, in Hong Kong on Tuesday, was deliberate. The last batch of Polaroid film expired around the world on Oct. 9. Summit Global Group, the new licensee of the Polaroid brand, announced the deal with the Impossible Project.
What just a few years ago was obsolete and unsophisticated is now heralded as "vintage," "iconic," and, above all, analog and un-Photoshopable.
The Impossible Project is also behind Polanoid, an online site that showcases photographers' work with the old cameras.
Kelnreiter says she got involved in the project through a friend who is a Polaroid photographer for the 17,000-member Polanoid.
"Many artists love to work with the Polaroid material," she said.
Cool. But it sounds like they have their work cut out especially since some of the chemicals are banned but hopefully they can find new ways.
Link to the rest
