The Impossible Project

Oh, the (Im)Possibilities!

The Impossible Project and the Re-birth of Instant Photgraphy

In October 2008 The Impossible Project saved the last Polaroid production plant for integral instant film, located in the Netherlands. There began the quest to invent and produce totally new instant film materials for traditional Polaroid cameras. Due to the fact that the original Polaroid color dyes were no longer being produced and that there seemed no information on how to reproduce them, the Impossible Project had to start from scratch ("About Impossible"). The goal of the project was to bring back instant photography within a years' time, re-inventing the processes along the way--a seemingly impossible task.

"Impossible started with a small team of the very best 10 former Polaroid employees," working to "re-invent a complete new instant film system, making an analog dream come true" ("The Impossible Project"). This small group of passionate pioneers was the tip of a monumental community of individuals who were not ready to see instant photography disappear. The Impossible Project used the internet as a primary vehicle for spreading the word about their cause, and, sure enough, in March of 2010 the Impossible Project announced that they had been successful in recreating instant monochrome film for certain Polaroid cameras. A few months later, in July of the same year, "Impossible released the First Flush Edition of a first, brand new color film--quite a miracle considering that not even the most optimistic experts believed in the re-invention of the highly complex instant color system" ("The Impossible Project"). The company is still in the process of improving and enhancing these color systems which involves highly complex chemical processes and allowing for the achievement of finer, more well defined colors ("The Impossible Project").

Marwan Saba, Founder & CEO

Dr. Florian Kaps, Founder & CMO

Andre Bosman, Founder & COO

The resurgence of interest in instant photography that this strange project has brought about is significant for a number of reasons. First, in understanding how visual objects become more than static representations of people, places, and things, one can begin to see visual images and objects as more than two-dimensional representations, but rather as "compressed performances" (Rose 220). It isn't until the photos are mobilized in some way that they begin to take on different meanings. And, though many visual analysts have examined the important role of images with regards to content and composition, in an anthropological context the visual efficacy of an image works only in relation to an embodied observer (Rose 220). In other words, how the material object is used, what is done with it, how it moves and both functions in and shapes a given social sphere is of greater importance to this study. And, though Rose argues that it the role of digital technologies, such as the internet and digital photography, are difficult to analyze using an anthropological lens, I would argue that these kinds of technology, being such influential parts of contemporary culture, are actually perfect subjects to analyze, especially their relationship to traditional and tangible forms of media.

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