Analog instant film, brought back for Polaroid fans

Regular Springwise readers may recall The Impossible Project, the Dutch / Austrian effort to bring back integral film for vintage Polaroid cameras. Now, just a little more than a year after we covered the project, its first films are ready for sale to enthusiastic Polaroid fans. To recap: Back in 2008 Impossible signed a 10-year lease on the last Polaroid production plant in Enschede, acquiring all the necessary machinery from Polaroid as well. With support from Ilford Photo, it then set out to modernize and bring back integral instant films. The first line it’s created is its PX Silver Shade, a series of monochrome instant films that combine the appearance, format, temperature sensitivity and manipulability of the old Polaroid films with the new appearance of silver-based, monochrome shades. Now, the first products in this line—Impossible’s PX 100 and PX 600 Silver Shade films—are available for EUR 18 each in a limited, “First Flush” edition from the company’s online store; retail partners will come on board soon. Also on the way this year are two colour films (100 and 600 ASA) as well as Silver Shade and color versions of the larger Integral Instant film format for usage in all Polaroid Image/Spectra/1200 cameras. In all, The Impossible Project plans to produce one million films in its first year, ramping up to 3 million annually beginning in 2011. Meanwhile, the project next month will open a combined shop and gallery at 425 Broadway in New York City, in part to host exemplary works of the artists who use its film. Along similar lines, it also recently placed a binding offer to purchase the International Polaroid Collection from the Musée de l‘Elysée in Lausanne. We’ve seen everything from out-of-print books to discontinued bath products made available again on demand, but The Impossible Project brings new scale to such efforts. Retailers worldwide: who will be the first on your block to offer the Impossible line…?