The Impossible Blog

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Hello, fellow shooters, and welcome back to Viewfinder! This week, we train our lens on west coast student, computer tech specialist and photographer Erin McGuire…

“I live on the western edge of the Mojave desert in the Palmdale/Lancaster part of Los Angeles county. It’s a diverse community with some areas being very well off financially and others that are literally living in the dirt. The area gets used by Hollywood quite often so there is a rich movie history here as well. The landscape is as diverse as the community because we are situated where the desert meets the mountains. There are oak trees mixed with Joshua trees, bobcats mixed with mountain lions and Mojave rattlers mixed with western diamond backs. The strange beauty of this place inspires me to shoot on a daily basis but it was Impossible Project film that got me moving in a fine art direction.

I have a deep, emotional connection with the land that I formed as a young child when we’d go camping in this area. Impossible Project film with its mysterious artifacts and its sensitivity to light creates images that, for me, embody the spiritual connection I have with the land. I’ve used PX 100 Silver Shade, PX 70 Color Shade, PX 600 Silver Shade, and PZ 600 Silver Shade. Impossible film is my film of choice for photographing this land and its inhabitants. I also love to shoot the Paul Giambarba Polaroid Chocolate film, which I also got from The Impossible Project, for the same reasons.

Certain images shown here have been selected by Wall Space Gallery to be sold in their Life Support Japan auction, have been honored by the International Photography Awards in their 2011 show and selected to be published in the second issue of Films and Grains magazine and the final issue of Light Leaks magazine.”

To see more of Erin’s work, please visit her Flickr photo stream

March 1 – June 28, 2012

Impossible Project Space NYC 425 Broadway, 5th Floor New York, NY 10013 map

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It has been almost two years since the very first release of Impossible instant film, the wildly anticipated new black & white instant film for Polaroid SX-70 cameras. Although the film was initially in a developmental stage and highly experimental, it dawned on both fanatics and photographers alike that the impossible actually could become possible.
Just 19 months later, Impossible has released 12 unique film types for three separate Polaroid camera systems. Although the journey has been short, the length Impossible has come represents a milestone in reviving instant analog photography.

Using Impossible’s latest color and black & white films, twelve carefully selected photographers are illustrating a MOMENTUM that will carry instant analog photography through the digital age and beyond: Anne Bowerman, Brian Henry, Brooke Castro,
Thom Jackson, Bradley Johnson, Whitney Johnson, Clay Lipsky, Peter Plaia, Jessica
Reinhardt, Patrick Tobin, Yana Toyber and Max Wanger.

The Opening Reception will take place on March 1 from 6pm to 9pm in presence of
some of the artists with live music by DJ Tied Eyed and refreshments provided.
Please rsvp@the-impossible-project.com

CLICK HERE to view exhibition DETAILS

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We are not called Impossible for nothing! By combining our team’s knowledge and efforts we celebrated a unique occasion this week: we are now able to slit trap (an integral and important part of each Impossible images) material in house! Not even in the Polaroid days was the factory able to slit trap material in house – it was considered simply impossible…. now we know it is Impossible!

Edwin ten Hove, whom you can see on the photo, is now operating this machine. The machine slits the trap material, which you need to neutralize and absorb surplus paste at the top of each picture. By absorbing surplus paste, the trap prevents paste from leaking out of the picture. And by adding neutralizing chemicals, paste that still may manage to escape from the frame is less harmful.

This little “endeavor to persevere” saves our company many thousands of Euros that we are now able to dedicate to further developing our precious film and to resolve production related issues.

Saturday, 25 February 2012

Rough Trade East Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, London E1 6QLmap

As of Saturday 25th February, Rough Trade East will be hosting monthly workshops with the UK Impossible expert Tom Wright.

The first one being IMPOSSIBLE PROJECT 101 WORKSHOP. This hands on workshop is your chance to dust off your polaroid camera and start taking fantastic artistic pictures with the new Impossible films.

Tom will show you how to get the best out of your vintage polaroid cameras (if you don’t have one don’t worry you can lend one) and he will cover topics ranging from shielding techniques and temperature control helping you to harness this film’s unique character. After an introduction to the film you will have the chance to take to the streets and shoot your brains out.

Places are limited so we’d advise you book tickets sooner rather than later and you can do so here.

The Polaroid Sun 600 LMS camera was first introduced in 1983. Though the exposure adjustment switch was available on several earlier models, it wasn’t christened the Light Management System until the Sun 600’s release.

A basic 600-series camera, the Sun 600 features a 116mm single-element plastic lens, fixed focus with a minimal focal length of 4 feet, electronic shutter and a built-in electronic flash.

Polaroid’s 600 cameras were well-known for their television commercials featuring James Garner and Mariette Hartley, and the Sun 600 LMS was no exception. Watch the 1983 commercial HERE

The Sun 600 LMS works with any of Impossible’s 600-speed film. For a complete selection of compatible films, click HERE

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Hello, Impossibles! We’re happy to bring you another entry in our ever-popular question and answer series, 8 Exposures. In this episode, the man of the hour is George Weiss III, a photographer based in Philadelphia, specializing in weddings and portraits, with a love for analog photography…

1) What kind of Polaroid camera(s) do you use?

I have a bunch, I’m a bit of a hoarder, er, I mean collector, but I primarily use a couple SX-70 Sonars, an SLR 680, and I have a 250 for packfilm.

2) Why do you like instant photography?

Hmph, where do I start? I think the biggest reason is the fact that it has a life and a soul that can’t be found in any other medium. I love the feeling of anticipation I get when I’ve taken a photo and I’m waiting for it to develop or to peel it. It’s magic.

3) What is your earliest memory of instant film?

I have a lot of pictures of myself as a child (probably in the 3-year-old range) that were taken by my grandfather but I don’t actually remember them being taken. When I was a young child in the 80’s, Polaroid photos were so ubiquitous it was hard to avoid them.

4) What’s your favorite Impossible Project film type?

That’s tough. I love the new Gold Frame PX 680 but I think there was something really special about the PX 70 First Flush. Some of my favorite photos were taken on that.

5) What are your favorite subjects to photograph?

Anything that inspires me :)

6) Tell us about a project you’re working on.

Nothing too serious but I’m trying to come out of my shell and do a little bit more street work.

7) Who are your favorite photographers, instant or otherwise?

I think my favorite famous/historic photographer has to be Henri-Cartier Bresson. Since I do a lot of wedding photography, much of my inspiration is from that world. I really love the work of Ash Imagery, and Jose Villa’s stuff is gorgeous as well.

I have a ton of favorite instant photographers and I’m not going to start naming names because I’m afraid I’ll miss someone and regret it, but you only need to look as far as the Impossible Project Flickr group for a huge amount of inspiration. Mikael Kennedy’s work also really speaks to me.

8) If you could take a photo of anyone or anything what would it be?

That’s a tough one but one of my heroes is Kurt Vonnegut and I’d love to be able to take his portrait.

Special thanks to George for taking part in 8 Exposures! To see more of his photography, please visit his Flickr Photo Stream and follow him on Twitter at @themadstork

From its inception PX70 PUSH! film challenged photographers with its unique chemical composition and specific shooting requirements. Now that it has aged it has become a different beast all together – one that requires an extra level of taming. We recommend considering the following crucial points when working with PX 70 Color Shade PUSH! film:

LIGHT
A strong flash will support image details the best. Use of artificial or day light will create a more soft-focus effect.

DISTANCE
The closer the motif, the better the results!

MOTIF
Don’t go for the white horse in the snow. Only motifs that are rich in contrast and color will create decent results.

TEMPERATURE
PX 70 Color Shade PUSH! film has always preferred warm temperatures while shooting and processing (more than 15°C/59°F). Flickr Forum – Heating Your PUSH!

SHIELDING
Make absolutely sure that NO light at all hits the image as it ejects from the camera. Click here for all shielding methods

TIME
Be patient. PX 70 Color Shade PUSH! images need about 12 hours to to fully develop and display final results.

PRESERVATION
To make sure your PUSH! images do not fade over time or shift to a blue color due to humidity, we recommend lifting or peeling the image. Click here for a Lifting tutorial.