Five years ago Polaroid announced that they would no longer make anaÂlog instaÂmatÂic film. At that moment, if one lisÂtened careÂfulÂly, one could almost hear some of the 20th cenÂtuÂry’s most famous artists wail in despair, even from the grave. Ansel Adams loved Polaroid and shot some of his famous Yosemite images in that forÂmat first.
But a techÂnique with that kind of folÂlowÂing doesn’t die off easÂiÂly. Two ardent Polaroid fans—ardent enough to actuÂalÂly attend the cloÂsure of a Polaroid facÂtoÂry in the Netherlands—met and came up with a plan to save the facÂtoÂry and Polaroid instant film. They called their plan the ImposÂsiÂble Project. They leased one of the Dutch facÂtoÂry buildÂings and evenÂtuÂalÂly fired up the machines again, turnÂing out new instant film.
Lucky for us. Artists like David HockÂney have long made beauÂtiÂful use of Polaroid instant phoÂtos to conÂstruct cubist colÂlages. One of the best at this is the ItalÂian phoÂtogÂraÂphÂer MauÂrÂizio GalÂimÂberÂti who creÂates terÂrifÂic celebriÂty porÂtraits using a Polaroid.
GalÂimÂberÂti conÂsidÂers himÂself a painter who uses a camÂera. WatchÂing the video of his phoÂto shoot with painter Chuck Close, it’s interÂestÂing to observe how simÂiÂlar Galimberti’s phoÂto colÂlage (above) is to Close’s own paintÂed self-porÂtraits.
GalÂimÂberÂti also has pretÂty good access to celebriÂties, havÂing shot the porÂtrait of JohnÂny Depp and this one of George Clooney at the 2003 Venice Film FesÂtiÂval.
GalÂimÂberÂti posts a numÂber of more recent celebriÂty porÂtraits on his webÂsite, where he also disÂplays his abstract city phoÂto colÂlages.
Kate Rix writes about digÂiÂtal media and eduÂcaÂtion. VisÂit her webÂsite: .
Polaroid nevÂer made “instaÂmatÂic” film. The InstaÂmatÂic camÂera line was from Kodak and used traÂdiÂtionÂal film in a small-forÂmat carÂtridge referred to as 110. They also feaÂtured four-sided flash cubes that rotatÂed after each shot.
Polaroid films were always much largÂer forÂmat than used in InstaÂmatÂics or most comÂmon traÂdiÂtionÂal camÂeras. Polaroid was mostÂly proÂduced in “large forÂmat” sizes, 4x5 through 20x24 inchÂes plus the Polaroid-speÂcifÂic sizes.
Van