WITH A BACKGROUND in the development of the LOMOgraphy cult of the 1990s, Polanoir's proprietors Florian Kaps and Lexi Hoeller are not averse to spinning their way to success and if it means 'reinventing' near obsolete technologies and reviving interest in 'dead format' processes, then so be it – we've seen this all before after all.
The LOMOgraphy cult, the revival of the Soviet 35mm LOMO LC-A, had largely been reliant upon a bit of hype and some clever Internet marketing, later resulting in the formation of a LOMOgraphy Society (replete with a dedicated website for upload of photographs by members) and eventually an apparent deal with the LC-A's failing manufacturer in St. Petersburg. Though the LOMOgraphy cult spawned dedicated stores and points of sale internationally, and even London's seminal Photographer's Gallery now stocks LOMO cameras and their spin-offs, with Polanoir these techniques of viral monopoly marketing have been cranked up a gear. Kaps and Hoeller are not satisfied anymore with merely selling used cameras - nor with exhibiting original Polaroids, holding Polaroid auctions, running limited editions, or flogging expired film (note: you pay double for expired). No. Now they're about to publish a new concept in Polaroid erotica too – Tickl magazine. With a first issue due June 15th, 2007, Tickl is edited by Polanoir associate Carmen De Vos (herself a dab hand with a Polaroid SX-70 – the world's first folding SLR camera – and an artist who exhibits at the gallery). Published twice yearly by Schwarzer Freitag in Berlin, with a cultish print run of just 2000 internationally, the content of the magazine will undoubtedly appeal to the fetish market - though it has broader appeal among that rather savvy sector of youth culture for whom the appeal of retro porn is always strong. As Kaps sees it, Tickl will return Polaroid to its rightful place at the heart of the amateur fetish photography subcultures throughout the world. 'In its heyday,' he says, 'Polaroid served two important roles, but the company have never really wanted to talk about either that much'. While they have largely concentrated on the domestic sector and studio use in terms of their marketing, those that benefited most from Polaroid technologies and chemistry were initially not vacationers nor professional photographers, but the newspaper journalists in need of instant photography - and the 'home pornographers' unable to develop their film by other means. Though digital photography has killed off both markets in one sense, in another there is something that it cannot affect; that is that every Polaroid is an original, and it's this that Kaps and Hoeller have belatedly seized upon.
More generally, 'younger photographers brought up with digital just love the idea that, with Polaroid, they are dealing with such a hands-on form of analogue photography with its obvious chemical processes and the element of originality,' says Kaps. 'When we first set up the Polanoid.net website to attract customers and allow them to upload their photographs, we thought it would be the old guys that would be interested, but we were really surprised to find that it was mostly art students and youngsters who were now interested in this technology and this form of photography. The vast market there was for this obsolete stock among youth culture staggered us, and so, when I realised that some of our stock had expired and was producing weird effects, I asked Lexi, should I throw it away? He said No! Charge Double! and we did. We created a market for expired film overnight and there's now a real appetite for it.'
For many now, the uncertainty of expired film means that expired is the drug of choice among young photographers feeling bored by the certainty of the digital experience.
When Polanoid.net was first launched, users registering with the site were told that 'we don’t want your money; all we need and all that we beg for are your Polaroids, your creativity and your time to help us build the biggest and most amazing online picture community in the world'. Of course, it was not quite as altruistic as Kaps would have you believe however, and the downside for those kids shooting Polaroids at one Euro per shot, was that in order to sustain their habit they had to first get their hands on the rapidly depleting stocks of film. Most of which was, of course, being quickly bought up by Kaps and Hoeller for storage in their constant temperature basement of the Polanoir store. With the same eye for a profit that had underpinned the development of the LOMOgraphy cult therefore, Unsalable.com was then launched with 'bundles' to suit every pocket. From vintage SX-70 cameras and cases (for which production ceased in 1977) to plastic-lensed Holga 120s with Polaroid backs, bundled with ten packs of film for 270 euros (not a bad mark-up on a toy camera that elsewhere retails on its own for about 20 euros).
New developments at Polanoir and Unsaleable have reinjected interest at just that point when many industry observers were suggesting it was foolish for Kaps and Hoeller to have staked their reputations on shrinking stock and obsolete merchandise too. Following the success of their 'deal' with Polaroid to produce a brand new 'SX-70 Blend' - which is a totally new development in Polaroid integral film, developed to enable continued feeding of SX-70 cameras long after the original film for these cameras had ceased - they have now launched a new 'Type 80' Polaroid film too. Marketed as Chocolate Film 80 on account of its rich dark sepia hue, the new Type 80 is a 100ASA medium-speed hybrid film that uses the chemistry of the P3 Viva negative, combined with a Viva 3000 sheet and Type 672 reagent. To put it simply, what this means in terms of the Polaroid chemistry is that by using a colour negative, colour developer and Black & White positive, the silver in the colour negative activates the Black & White positive as normal but an additional dye release from the colour negative gives the Black & White positive a chocolate coloured tone. Obviously, it remains for the end user to decide whether this process merely results in murky prints with unstable mottled areas in the lighter shades - or the coolest chemistry development to hit Polaroid cameras in years?
Whatever the outcome, it all comes cannily packaged as a Viennese box of chocolates.
Undoubtedly, Polanoir is an important development, in as much as they are reviving interest in an aspect of photographic history, technology and chemistry that was on the brink of disappearing altogether, and thus, having shown that new markets can be created, have revived one of photography’s most endangered species. It's not all plain sailing however and mistakes have been made along the way. For a start, Kaps and Hoeller seem to have completely misjudged the gallery aspect of their business, realising now that there simply isn't such a market potential for the Polanoir Editions end of the concern. Produced to an exact limit of forty-seven per limited edition (commemorating the year 1947 when Edwin H. Land presented his instant imaging technology to the Optical Society of America) the small format Polaroids are reproduced as large format hand signed Lambda Prints on Fujicolor Crystal Archive paper. Though people seem to love them when they see them, the market's simply not there for these editions - or for the auctions it seems - though there is always interest in the originals.
Don't knock it – there's time yet. Polanoir is, after all, the first commercial gallery concept ever, strictly dedicated to Polaroid art and, as Kaps says: 'in recent years some new and uncomplicated online and offline galleries have proven that it's possible to combine contemporary art and business in a most successful way, celebrating the power of art at affordable prices and therefore making it fun to collect. Polanoir is the attempt to combine these new movements in art-business with the immortal strengths of honestly breathtaking Polaroid pictures'. Polanoir's time may come yet, and with ventures like SX-70 Blend, Chocolate Film 80, and Tickl, now is perhaps not the time to be sceptical.
POLANOIR GALLERY
Museumsquarter
Breite Gasse 11/1/1
Vienna, Austria
www.polanoir.com
ALL IMAGES Courtesy Ian McKay
Copyright (c) 2007, Ian McKay
