In March, The Impossible Project announced that it had successfully brought Polaroid film back from the dead, releasing the new PX100 and PX600 instant films. Next up: a physical store in New York City.

The Impossible Project has just announced a new retail and exhibition space in New York City called “The Impossible Project Space”, located on the 5th floor at 425 Broadway. In addition to selling film and gear, the space will display works from “The Impossible Collection”, which is modeled after the world-famous Polaroid Collection and features work created on Impossible Project film.

There’s going be a grand opening party from 3pm-8pm on April 30th, so if you’re a Polaroid lover, it might be a fantastic way to connect with other enthusiasts.

(via PDNPulse)

Image credit: Photograph by The Impossible Project

Tom Petters, a former owner of Polaroid was sentenced yesterday to 50 years in prison for heading up a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme.  One of Petters’ lawyers, Paul Engh, told reporters that his client is likely to appeal the sentence.

In 2008, Petters was charged for money laundering, wire and mail fraud. He allegedly used falsified documents to convince investors that he was putting their money towards consumer electronics produced by Polaroid and his other associated companies. Instead, prosecutors say Petters paid investors with profits made from other investments.

Petters was found guilty in December 2009. US District Judge Richard Kyle handed the sentence yesterday.“This was a massive fraud and the defendant’s involvement in the fraud was front and center,” Kyle said.

The already troubled Polaroid company, which had previously filed for bankruptcy in 2001, was purchased by Petters in January 2005. Under Petters’ watch, the company fell into bankruptcy once again, in 2008.

(via Amateur Photographer)

The Impossible Project has done it again — in a new Polaroid product revamp, the company has released a brand new Polaroid 600 One model designed by Paul Giambarba.

Giambarba is the designer behind the Polaroid branding and design since the late 1950s.

The 600 One features a digital LCD counter, a focus free lens, a built-in flash, and  comes packaged with 600 film.

It’s a little poetic how design and business can come full circle; Polaroid’s reinvigorated by tapping back into its own retro styles.

(via Gizmodo)

The Impossible Project’s new instant film for Polaroid cameras will go on sale later this week, but the British Journal of Photography has already gotten their hands on a pack of PX100. They were mailed a comprehensive press kit that included a box of the black and white film, and promptly exposed the film with a SX-70, publishing the results on their blog.

Of the eight exposures they had to play around with, only a few of them produced semi-recognizable images. Olivier Laurent writes,

But my initial impressions are that PX100 behaves like a expired pack of 669 or Time-Zero. You’re never sure of what you will get. To be fair, Impossible did warn us about this during its press conference yesterday. A slight change in temperature or pressure can ruin or enhance your image. One thing is sure, do NOT use this film outside in the winter or early spring, when there is still a cold breeze. Also, in some situations, you will need to keep your ND filter on.

Apart from some disappointing results (especially when shooting outside), it feels good to load a SX-70 with some new film.

$21 a pack means this is some seriously expensive experimentation. However, lets wait until the film is in the hands of the masses before coming to a verdict on this new film. Here’s to hoping the film is a success!

Image credit: Photographs by 1854.

Time to dust off your old Polaroid cameras. The Impossible Project has just unveiled its new PX100 and PX600 instant films for Polaroid cameras, after a three year effort to save Polaroid photography from extinction. The $21 packs, available starting Thursday, will each provide 8 black and white images. Color film packs are also expected to be released sometime this summer.

PX100 film is for the SX-70 Polaroid camera from the 1970′s, while PX600 is for more recent cameras that take 600-series film. While the new film will not carry Polaroid branding, new Polaroid instant film cameras that use the film have been announced. The company plans to produce more than 1 million packs in the first year.

Do you love Polaroid enough to pick it up again for $2-3 a shot?

Lady Gaga’s most recent music video for “Telephone”, featuring Beyonce, is like most modern music videos: rife with product placement. But among the most prominent products was Gaga’s own employer, Polaroid, which gets a 10-second spot.

You may recall the buzz during CES 2010 when Polaroid announced the music artist was hired as their creative director for a specialty line.

It’s good to know that some people are getting jobs these days.

Fashion label LeSportsac will be joining with Canon in its release of a case designed exclusively for the PowerShot camera, the companies announced today.

No big surprise here; the fashion industry has always worked hand-in-hand with the photography industry. Photography has always played an integral part in marketing fashion.

However, the tables are turning, and designer names are now a major marketing point for photo gear.

Consumer-level cameras are abundant. Every major manufacturer has several new models of point-and-shoots each year, a testament to the power of the consumer in the imaging industry. However, in a market flooded with similar products, manufacturers scramble to distinguish themselves from the next big company.

Late last year, Lady Gaga contributed some star power to Polaroid as she joined the company as a creative director. Polaroid’s most recently garnered a prominent feature in Gaga’s latest music video, Telephone, featuring Beyonce. Celebrity spokespersons such as Ashton Kutcher for Nikon are also a recent marketing trend in drawing public interest in photo products.

Last month at PMA, GE announced a new point-and-shoot collaboration with fashion designer Jason Wu called Create by Jason Wu, whose line includes colorful cameras and stylish carrying cases. The cameras will be released this April, but GE’s running a contest this month for autographed editions of the product.

Any thoughts on this trend? Would a designer name interest you next time you shop for a camera?

We reported last month that the New York auction house, Sotheby’s will be facilitating the sale of more than 1,200 photos from the Polaroid company’s collection this June. The photos include images captured by legendary photographers and artists such as Ansel Adams and Andy Warhol. Sotheby’s estimates that the collection will raise some $7.5 million to $11.5 million, which will go towards paying for Polaroid’s Minnesota bankruptcy court.

Yet while Polaroid regains its financial footing, several featured photographers feel they are at a loss — if the photos change hands, they may lose their contractual rights.

According to the British Journal of Photography, some of the photographers are motioning for a re-hearing, hoping that the courts will reconsider selling the collection.

When the auction was first announced, photographer Chuck Close shared his disapproval in an interview with the New York Times that such a groundbreaking collection should go to the auction block:

“There’s really nothing like it in the history of photography.” But, he added, “to sell it is criminal.”

While the sale of these images is not technically illegal, the copyright laws are muddied in this situation. Typically, when a print is sold, the artist or photographer retains the copyright, along with the ability to reproduce his or her image. However, with these Polaroid images, the original image is unique.

Originally, when the artists gave the images to the Polaroid collection, their contracts granted them perpetual access to their work. But when the auction occurs, the contract will be nullified once the work is sold. Since the one of a kind images shot on instant film cannot be replicated, the artists require direct access to their work in order to license it.

In an interview with the British Journal of Photography, American critic Allan Coleman sums up the problem:

“Since they don’t have access, they can’t license the works. All they have is the copyright, which is meaningless now. I don’t think the court understood the unique nature of the collection.”

(via The British Journal of Photography)

It’s no secret that Polaroid has seen its share of financial troubles over the last few years. This year, Polaroid will be forced to bring some of its historic prints and images to Sotheby’s auction block in order to offset debts incurred as a result of its current bankruptcy, the New York Times reports.

In the lineup are some 400 photos by Ansel Adams, and work by artistic legends such as Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, and Robert Mapplethorpe. The auction will be held in Sotheby’s New York, the Times cites that is expected to bring in $7.5 million to $11.5 million.

Featured photographers have mixed feelings about the auction; many feel that the historic collection is museum-worthy, the Times quotes:

“It’s an amazing body of work,” Mr. Close said in a telephone interview. “There’s really nothing like it in the history of photography.” But, he added, “to sell it is criminal.”

The collection was initiated and owned by Polaroid founder, Edwin H. Land, who made sure creative minds of his time had a chance to use and tinker with his product, and give him hands-on professional feedback, the Times noted:

It was a handy arrangement, the collection’s longtime curator, Barbara Hitchcock, explained: Polaroid provided some of the greatest talents around with equipment and film, and they gave the company photographs. “Experimentation was encouraged by Polaroid,” Ms. Hitchcock added. “It was a mantra — experimentation, creativity, innovation, pushing the envelope of photography.”

These early Polaroid images provide fascinating glimpses into the work of famous photographers, as well as into the early development of a consumer camera culture that transcended merely functioning as an industry — though ironically, the company would later fall on hard times as a struggling industry.

Some of the remarkable pieces up for auction can be viewed on the NYT’s Lens Blog.

(via The New York Times)

After Polaroid announced that it would stop producing instant film in 2008, a group called The Impossible Project acquired the last instant film production facility in the Netherlands in a bid to save the beloved medium. This past weekend, the group ran into “an unexpected problem with one of the components vital for production,” possibly jeopardizing the project.

The group was scheduled to hold an event on February 22nd in New York, where the original instant film was announced 63 years ago, but that has been postponed. In their press release, they state,

On 22nd MARCH 2010 [the project leaders] will disclose whether or not their Impossible Project will be possible.

On behalf of all the Polaroid-enthusiasts who read PetaPixel, we wish The Impossible Project Godspeed!

(via Amateur Photographer)

Update:

Hmmm… The group (@ImpossibleUSA) has tweeted a response to this post, stating that the problem was simply a shipment issue by one of the suppliers. However, if you read the press release on their website, it sounds much more dire than the situation apparently is.