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| Poster at the entrance to Space 15 Twenty |
Having crowed about The Impossible Project setting up shop at Urban Outfitter's Space 15 Twenty earlier in the week, I headed over Friday night for the opening reception of the gallery as well as Saturday to watch the 8x10 workshop. The gallery showing featured photos by photographers who have been Impossible supporters since the beginning. Some inspirational stuff on display!
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| Photos of various places in LA, including The original Tommys in Filipino Town |
There was a supporting merch table with Impossible film (B&W Cool Shade and Color Protection, in case you're curious) and various cameras for sale. There were a few rarities and novelties, like a Tazmanian Devil Polaroid camera.
Several Polaroid 680s were for sale at the asking price of 400 some dollars! A bit more than I had on me I'm afraid. But they were oh so pristine and restored by Impossible to working condition. Someday right?
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| An SX-70 on display |
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| David Bias, VP of Impossible |
I learned some interesting tidbits about the guy who repairs Impossible's cameras, talking to Impossible VP of the American team, David Bias. David was quite friendly and willing to answer everyone and anyone's questions, no matter how big or small. Every VP should be this willing to talk to the pubic!
What was surprising to hear was Impossible will help troubleshoot your camera and if it's a problem that can't be fixed via email, you can send it in and have them repair it. Repairs start at 75 dollars and go up from there, depending on how much disassembling is required. Oh, and it comes with a year warranty! Not too shabby right? Your camera is in good hands too! That repair guy of theirs worked for Polaroid for over 30 years. By just clicking away and listening to a sound of a camera, he can figure what ails your aging Polaroid! He's a Polaroid Genius from what was said, with a knack for figuring out solutions in a way no one else can!
David handled the demonstations of their Impossible Instant Lab 'camera', which uses the iphone and this 'Polaroid' attachment to turn digital pictures into polaroids! Being an android user, I was a bit disappointed, but they're working on a cradle for androids. It'll be out in June for $299 if you're looking to snag one.
Impossible sought backers through Kickstarter for the Instant Lab and again, David let out some astounding knowledge. Their goal was $100,000 and within 4 hours, it was met!! I was taken aback and blown away by that! That shows you how much people love Impossible and Polaroids still.
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| 8x10 back being loaded with Impossible's BW film |
There were two B&W 8x10 workshops which sadly I wasn't able to participate in, but they did let people watch the film being prepped, loaded, and processed. The camera was a beauty! Wood and brass. Timeless. The photo it put out was just as classy. Those in the workshop were able to have their picture taken by it. Jealous!
In the two days I spent hanging around, I met so many people who were stumbling in, wondering what the commotion was about, and their eyes as big as saucers, ecstatic that they could pullout their old polaroids again! I ended up playing unofficial staff a few times (they had their hands full with the number of people coming in), helping by explaining who and what Impossible was, answering questions about their cameras and what was for sale. It was worth seeing the glimmer in their eyes as they dreamed of shooting in film. I'm so glad I was able to help them remember the magic of instant film.
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| A wall of Polaroid 600 cameras. I ended up picking up one :) |
I ended up talking with one of the photographers, Jessica Reinhardt, later in the day. It was great to pick her brains about the Spectra series of cameras (my foray into Impossible film began with a Spectra SE). For instance, it's capable of multiple exposures and there was even a filter kit for it! She was nice enough to show me some examples of the filter set in action on her Flickr page. I will now be on the hunt for one!
Alas, I wasn't able to stick around for the Hollywood walk, but I did snap some photos of the crowd gathering with their Polaroids, itching to press the trigger!
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