analogue photography fans can now get their fix in australia with impossible project now available locally through boutique retail and wholesaler pigeonhole.
instant film remains popular despite the rise of digital technology. impossible project saved the last polaroid factory in enschede, the netherlands after the company announced its withdrawal from the market in 2008, which means consumers can still purchase products to make use of the photographic style.
“impossible project is the rebirth of instant photography,” says pigeonhole owner johann kim. “polaroid closed down its factories a few years ago and has stopped producing instant films altogether.
“impossible project is a fresh take on instant film – they have recreated the technology for producing instant films so impossible films are not quite the same as the old polaroid films. they are more sensitive and your images can change and develop over a period of time which can be really exciting.”
kim says his store has been supporting the technology since it opened and the impossible project seemed like the perfect fit.
“analogue photography is one area that we have really expanded into and felt that our range would not be complete without a strong presence of instant photography products,” he says.
“we've always had film based cameras for sale at pigeonhole…we also hold photography workshops and just want to encourage our customers and community to discover the joy of analogue photography.”
instant film isn’t widely available in australia so once pigeonhole started stocking the impossible products it had a huge response from customers.
“we saw that there was a large gap in the market as polaroid products were becoming harder to come by but there were still so many polaroid cameras in circulation – in people's garages, at grandparents' houses and wistfully gathering dust on enthusiasts' shelves.”
pigeonhole will launch the impossible project instant film range with a creative interactive event held simultaneously in sydney, melbourne and perth in late june. the evening will feature demonstrations of the cameras and an exhibition of works by photographers such as jackson eaton.
