It marks the end of an era. The last ever piece of Polaroid film has been given its expiry date, and afterwards never again will we hear the familiar whir and click of the camera with its 60 second ‘instant’ image popping out the bottom. The Polaroid, sadly, was doomed the moment digital cameras became affordable and easily accessible for consumers.
However, to mark the use by date and consequent demise of one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century, the Atlas Gallery, London is holding an exhibition in tribute of the Polaroid. Titled ‘Polaroid Exp 09.10.09’ it will bring together great British artists and fellow Polaroid devotees such as Andy Warhol, Marc Quinn and Helmut Newton.
Collectors can purchase some of the art at the exhibition as a tribute to the magic that was the Polaroid. Newton’s infamous Polaroid piece ‘Big Nude’ will sell for a £ 5,000-£8,000, a snip considering the traditional piece of film is worth a staggering 180,000. The fashion photographer who has been earmarked as changing the fashion image forever with his ‘porno-chic’ style has expressed his love for his choice of media; ‘It’s a wonderful sketchpad, the Polaroid. Polaroid’s often contain a freshness and spontaneity that is lacking in the carefully planned final shots on what I call real film’.
The colour-blind photographer is notorious for his monochrome black and white postcard-esque photographs featuring naked Amazonian women, wearing nothing but vicious stiletto heels in exotic locations. His images were very much focused on the women’s extremely long legs and killer stiletto heels, often cutting out the rest of the body. Though some found the nudity shots somewhat shocking he loved to push visionary boundaries and consequently has produced some of the most stunning fashion shots in history. His surrealist photography not only shaped fashion photography but even fashion itself.
Deemed one of the greatest visual artists, Katie Grand, fashion director of The Face and editor of Pop magazine credits him as her inspiration and ‘the best photographer ever’. Such was his love and focus on stiletto heels Newton even produced a monochrome piece titled ‘Self-portrait in high heels’ A bizarre image of himself, a long legged man reclining in LA patio poolside luxury. Wearing a serious expression, stiletto court shoes and oversized tilted hat this legendary fashion photographer was never afraid to break with convention and as a result produced some of the most ground breaking fashion imagery.
The Polaroid began its journey in the late 1930’s when Edward Land was questioned by his young daughter whilst on a family holiday; ‘why can’t we look at the pictures straight away?’ Land spent the next two years experimenting with a number of chemical combinations to discover the right solution which allowed him to produce developing self-developing camera film, which peeled away from the negative in under a minute. In 1948 The Land Camera Model 95 was born and within a year more than a million packets of Polaroid instant film were sold.
But fear not loyal Polaroid fans; a group of dedicated Polaroid enthusiasts and ex-employees named ‘The Impossible Project’ is currently in the process of renting an old factory in Holland and aims to reproduce Polaroid’s magical film by the end of the year! So plenty more girls on film for years to come. Hoorah!
