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BLUR MAGAZINE 15

Re-inventing instant film for vintage Polaroid cameras

BLUR MAGAZINE Exlusive media partner of The Impossible Project

Polaroid re-positioned itself from an analog Instant Film Production Company to a global Consumer Electro-nics and Digital Imaging company, with new high quality mass products. Shutting down factories in Mexico and Netherlands in June 2008, production of integral Polaroid film was globally stopped.

In October 2008, the company of Impossible B.V. foun-ded the Impossible project and acquired the complete production plant in Enschede (Netherlands). They enga-ged the most experienced team of Integral Film experts worldwide, aiming to re-invent and re-produce analog instant film. Since some important components of Pola-roid film do not exist anymore, this impossible project is focusing on the development of completely new film that could also be used on vintage Polaroid cameras. The first prototype is expected as soon as October 2009, and production is planned to start beginning of 2010.

Blur magazine is proud to be an exclusive media spon-sor of the Impossible Project. The magazine supporting and celebrating artistic photography, it is always a plea-sure for us to encourage such courageous and historically important undertakings which will, we are convinced, not only succeed but lead to a true cultural revolution in the world of photography. In this issue you can read an exc-lusive interview with Florian Kaps, executive director of the project, and find out all the facts related to the Impo-ssible Project as well as how to contribute to its success. More on this on page 112. In addition, our next issues will continue covering this topic we will inform you about the development of the project itself, survey the history of Polaroid film, current projects done using this specific technique and introduce the work of one Croatian Pola-roid photographer.

For further information related to the Impossible Pro-ject, please visit the official web page:

http://www.the-impossible-project.com/

BLUR MAGAZINE 15

ONE BIG THANK YOU

For such an independent, specific internet magazi-ne, it is a big honour to know it is being read by aro-und 10 thousand people in 110 countries. Howvere, there is no better recognition then readers sending personal compliments, comments and suggestions, because these not only give us an energy kick, they also provide ideas for further development and im-provement. Thank you for all of your participation so far!

VISIT OUR FACEBOOK GROU

In view of changes already explained and a kind of new beginning for Blur magazine, we would like to have even better interaction with our readers. This is why we created our Facebook network, through which we will give updates concerning Blur maga-zine, and where you can provide your feedback and speak your mind, and which will be a place for all of you to meet, exchange ideas and, perhaps, collabo-rate. What connects all of us is common love of pho-tography, an art for trespassing all time any territori-al borders, which is exactly why we want to create a community which will unite incurable photography and Blur buffs.

Join Facebook group Blur magazine !

KEEP ON WRITING

Dont hesitate a moment, keep us posted on what you like and what you believe should be improved. You can send your comments by e-mail or the Fa-cebook group and we will publish most interesting ones in our next issue. Bellow you can find some of many comments we already received.

Keep sending us your comments, compliments and wishes for our improvement from now on our new Facebook page!

Loredana Guinicelli | Italy | Wow :) My favorite magazine ever!

Sophie Schwery | Fantastic choices. Fantastic editing! Just love it. Thanks for inspiring me so much!

Milan | Serbia | Congrats for the magazine, I am reading it for some time now and I am truly impressed. You are great!

Gaetano Belverde | Italy | My compliments!! Wonderful ma-gazine. I prefer the pdf version because the ability to down-load and read off-line.

Arkadius Zagrabski | Germany | Yep! Love it too, keep up the good work :)

Ameer Hamza | For me a new and a wonderful finding. Keep it up! My compliments for the magazine. Its been a while since I was so impressed! Thank you!

Drako Velimirovi | My compliments for the magazine. Its been a while since I was so impressed! Thank you!

Mick Ryan | Thanks a lot! It looks great!

Hasan Jaber | Lebanon | Keep it up amigos!

Predrag Zec | BIH | Hello, I have recently discovered your mag and I like your work a lot. I am from Gradika, BIH and I am a professional photographer, but what you are doing has changed my perspective of photography as a hobby or job. Keep it up!

Darko Markanovi | Croatia | My compliments for your idea and magazine form. Only potential for improvement would be adding of exif data for photos, where it is possible. Once again congratulations on your excellent work!

Doug | Found your magazine by accident, well done! Hope to see it in print one day.

Marlon Asuncionus | Bulb mag, you have a lot of interesting and very creative photos. Keep it up!

Dejan Jevremovi | Serbia | Thank you for this beautiful free magazine!

Sirichok Sitthisan | Bulb is a cool magazine. Thanks for ma-king Bulb!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zagreb-Croatia/Blur-Magazine/116486566463

BLUR MAGAZINE 15

They claim a picture says a thousand words, as in the case of our current front page, where a photograph by author Mathi-eu Richard-Arcouette perfectly symbolizes the new situation our magazine faces. But, if you havent already noticed the new design of our web page, you must have seen the do-main name. In case you proceeded automatically, as most of us do while we surf, merely to download the latest issue, we have a surprise for you.

Is there anything strange about the logo you are so used to? Same dimensions, identical typography, equal number of letters, however - a different name, which is a bit more blurry than before. Even three letters match, but they are in a diffe-rent order. Why, what for, and what happened?

It is quite obvious that, despite the change, we didnt want to break the links to our, now former, Bulb magazine. Otherwise, we would have chosen a completely new name, visual identi-ty and made whatever changes. On the contrary, we decided to nourish the tradition and if you take a look to what the edi-torial staff blurb says, you can see almost all collaborators are still there. Our family even grew so that our common project could do better and have greater results.

Snake has always been a symbol of change, and as it sheds its

skin when it becomes too small, we too had to make certain changes in order to improve. However, every change hurts a bit. We all somehow subconsciously know this, which is the reason why we are afraid of changes and often unnecessarily try to postpone them. Despite possibly creating wounds that slowly heal or leave bitter aftertaste, changes are necessary because they are the only path to improvement and progre-ss. Kreimir, co-founder of Bulb magazine, will no longer be on the Blur team and will face new challenges by running the Bulb association. Given that Kreimir was the one who sug-gested the Bulb name, and us being such gentlemen, we let him keep it. We would like to thank him for all the effort and work. In front of us there are now new goals and paths which will, we are convinced, justify necessary changes.

But let us go back to our first thought that a picture says a thousand words. Is it always so, is this an undisputable rule? Imagine, for example, a photograph where you see two lo-vers hugging, an aesthetic and artistic love scene that hides more than it reveals. Everything fits perfectly, a photograph worth admiring.

Suddenly, as the seed of doubt arises, followed by a negati-ve clich of a half empty instead of a half full glass, the per-ception of the same love scene changes. All of our moralistic,

philosophical and diabolic alter egos have something to say. Perhaps this is a man that cheats on his wife, or vice versa? Maybe its a man with 2 women? What if one of them chan-ged his/her sex, or if this is actually a man with a blow-up doll If it would make any sense, or if we had more time and space, I am convinced we could gather more than one thou-sand words.

On the other hand, we are completely immune to and not af-fected by important things which we should constantly que-stion, react on and think about, yet we remain utterly apathe-tic. We can not but wonder if photography and photographs should act in this manner as well?

Despite the difficult economic situation, time when everybody cares but for material interests, when there is no class and everything seems so tacky, while media constantly bomb us with rubbish and depression, a bunch of workaho-lics volunteer and try to further improve this magazine.

E D I T O R I A L C O L U M N

...every change hurts a bit. We all somehow subconsciously know this, which is the reason why we are afraid of changes and often unnecessarily try to postpone them. Despite possibly creating wounds that slowly heal or leave bitter aftertaste, chan-ges are necessary because they are the only path to improvement and progress

Robert Gojevic, [email protected]

BLUR MAGAZINE 15

impressum

Robert Gojevicfounder | editor in chief | design | dtpe-mail: [email protected]

Ivana Krnjicmarketing & PR | translatore-mail: [email protected]

Anamarija Kovactranslator

Petra Nenadictranslator

Isidora Vujosevicjournalist | proofreading

Ivan Zidarjournalist

Vedran Korusicproofreading

Davor Juricicproofreading

Ivan PekarikGlobulb | translator

Dario Devcicweb master

Zlatko Druskoillustrator

O BLURU

HARD FACTS - BLUR HISTORY

Blur magazine is project founded and run by photography enthusiasts, and volun-teers from all parts of Croatia. Aiming at achieving high quality content, the maga-zine is published quarterly in PDF format so it can easily be downloaded, saved and browsed through every now and then. It is available through the Internet exclusively, in order to avoid high cost distribution fees, break territorial borders and reach every single part of the Earth, free of charge. It is because of its cosmopolitan nature that Blur is edited simultaneously in Croatian and English. Though initially established un-der the name of Bulb at the close of 2007, in September 2009, it changed its editorial board, refreshed its team of collaborators and, using a bit more blurry name, Blur now heads for new challenges.

SOFT FACTS - BLUR VISION

When it comes to presentation, photographers have great expectations from the Internet. Virtual exhibition rooms replaced expensive and highly privileged galleries and at one point it seemed an easy tool for one to be noticed and recognized without investing a lot of money. However, nobody expected such hysterical interest for pho-tography, a mass industry that constantly persuades us we always need to be aware of latest technological novelties.

A large amount of photo portals appeared, which led to quality dropping and cri-teria being downgraded, forcing photographers to spend more time online than ac-tively do what they should - take photos. Recognition mostly became a consequence of constant communication and active and thoughtful commenting the work of other photographers, while those less active remained unnoticed in spite of their quality.

We are surrounded by photography every step of the way but it however sadly mostly co-exists with capitalism the way of life which but ruins the values without which we only feel empty and incomplete. Everything is seen through the eye of the dollar and material interest.

Blur magazine chooses to resist to these trends. Apart from the fact it is free, unbeli-evable to most, we omit what we subjectively feel should be less important and more blurry when it comes to excellent photography on purpose. Our readers are free from technical information which camera/lens was used, what was the focal length and the rest of unimportant facts that fill most of photo related magazines and web por-tals. Or focus is purely on creative photography, with a strong personal mark by aut-hors that deserve to be highlighted. We want to slow down production rhythm, and make readers and photographers strongly reconsider photography. We wish to be experienced more as a book and less like a movie.

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Cover

PR

Readers corner

Editorial column

Impressum / about us

Contents Info

Gallery 24

Photo submission

Interview: Stanko Abadzic

Newsletter

Project: Soul tales II

Portfolio: Ana Lorencin

Vox populi

Globulb: Bombay Flying Club

Mare Milin column

History of the Polaroid

Impossible project: Hard fackts

Interview: Impossible project

Polaroid: Memory keepers

Portfolio: Ivan Zidar

CONTENTS

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QUICK WAY TO WANTED INFORMATION!

Blur magazine contains hyper links through which you can directly go to wanted page, and from every page go back to the content. By clicking thumbs on Gallery 24 you can immediately see the page with photography you clicked on and also return. Every URL address mentioned in the text is at the same time a hyper link for the wanted web page. This makes reading of our magazine easier, quicker, more simple & pleasant.

The easiest way to read

Blur magazine is in Full

Screen Mode. In case

you are no longer in

it, press Ctrl+L on your keyboard.

by clicking on the top of each page, you will be directed to the content!

gallery 24 BISERKO FERCEK Hrvatska | http://spare-bibo.deviantart.com/ Gondole

BLUR MAGAZINE 15

BLUR MAGAZINE 15gallery 24 ADAM SEWASTIANOWICZ POLAND | http://franekchrzonszcz.deviantart.com/

Agata

BLUR MAGAZINE 15gallery 24 AMANDA VALLOZA USA | http://www.maebird.synthasite.com

Halcyon

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ry 24

Christopher Hibbert France | www.christopher-hibbert.com

Love ga

llery

24Christopher Hibbert France | www.christopher-hibbert.com

Love

BLUR MAGAZINE 15gallery 24 IVAN PEKARIK Hrvatska | http://john-pecko.deviantart.com/

der Lachende Vagabund

BLUR MAGAZINE 15gallery 24 BISERKO FERCEK Hrvatska | http://spare-bibo.deviantart.com/

Gondole

BLUR MAGAZINE 15gallery 24 ANDREWF ENGLAND | http://www.andrewf.com

Dylan

BLUR MAGAZINE 15gallery 24 PETRA NENADIC HRVATSKA | http://toolost.deviantart.com/

Lucifers toy

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PIOTR MALKIEWICZ POLAND | http://przypadek.deviantart.com/gallery/

If

IME I PREZIME?????

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galle

ry 24

MUSE England | http://www.imageofmuse.com

Delicate

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BLUR MAGAZINE 15gallery 24 PANJI INDRA PERMANA Indonesia | http://panjiindra.viewbook.com

Alice In Wonderland

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VAGGELIS E FRAGIADAKIS USA | http://vaggelis.deviantart.com

Two good friends

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BLUR MAGAZINE 15gallery 24 SONIA SZSTAK Poland | http://muszka.deviantart.com/

Muszka

BLUR MAGAZINE 15gallery 24 ROBIN ALFIAN Indonesia | http://www.robinpika.deviantart.com

Couture rider

BLUR MAGAZINE 15gallery 24 JOHAN LIND Sweden | http://jo-lind.daportfolio.com

Unobservant

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NATHAN APPEL USA | http://nathanappel.com

mandy morbid

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galle

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UZENGIA ALEKSANDAR NEDIC Hrvatska | http://www.uzengia.com

The dog

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galle

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DAMIR GAVRANOVIC BiH | http://www.flickr.com/photos/damirgavranovic/ | BiH

Black

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galle

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HLNE DEROUBAIX France | http://helenina.com

The shamanic healer

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galle

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DUAN GRBAC Hrvatska | http://fotozine.org/index.php?omen=dg

Slap

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galle

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JOS FERREIRA Portugal | http://www.joseferreirapho-tographer.com

Nude Girl

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JURIY RONZHIN Russia | http://juriyronzhin.portfolio.artlimited.net/

Amateur

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BLUR MAGAZINE 15gallery 24 MIKE BAILEY-GATES USA | http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbg_photos/

Running away

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MAXIMILIAN BAEUCHLE Germany | -

Moving

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BLUR MAGAZINE 15gallery 24 NICHOLAS VROMAN JAPAN | http://nickvroman.wordpress.com/

Ice Machine

BLUR MAGAZINE 15gallery 24 STELLA ASIA CONSONNI AKA APHNEA ITALY | www.aphnea.carbonmade.com

Idrophobia

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Gallery 24 submission of photographs

The main mission of Blur magazine is to promote and celebrate artistic photography and to ensure coverage of all photographers, professional and amateur alike, who capture motifs that intrigue them in fascinating, innovative and fresh ways.

Gallery 24 is a collection, or even better, an exhibiti-on of all of those individual, unique and successful pho-tographs which are not grouped by a given theme, but are based on their quality, specific characteristics and the wow effect. Your work can be part of this collection too and thus be seen by several thousand people from all over the world. Robert, the editor of Blur and selec-tor of Gallery 24, describes below which photographs we look for and prefer. If your work matches the description, dont hesitate a moment but submit immediately using the (link!).

I must admit it is very difficult for me to find the right words to describe which photographs we prefer in Blur ma-

gazine. Although visually I know what I want and what not exactly, it is hard to put this into words. One thing is sure - we do not want to follow the mainstream and become boring and predictable, both in the selection of photographers and their work and when it comes to magazine question itself. As a big supporter of individualism and uniqueness, it would be easiest to say that I prefer simplicity. Meaning, we look for those photographs that can easily be connected to a certain artist, as they carry their personal and recognizable mark.

I could try presenting this uniqueness as a reflection of creativity, imagination, highly esthetic taste and intellect of the person that stands behind the camera. Therefore the attempt to capture something in an ordinary, unoriginal, unimaginative way that has been seen so many times befo-re is not what impresses me.

On the other hand, sometimes it is very hard to judge be-cause the visual appearance of photography can easily fool and seduce, so that I simply ignore everything said above

and decide to publish it. Selection is a subjective process, led by inner impulses and feelings.

Finally, I am constantly looking for originality, creativity, style and lots of other elements that are joined together in unique ratios. Some authors succeed here more, some less, as some photographs leave stronger or weaker impression on readers.

Surrounded by beautiful photographs in different places, I sometimes do not have the time or patience to wait if we get the photographs I wish to publish. Therefore, when I see an interesting photograph, wanting to show it to a wider audi-ence, I do not hesitate to contact the author himself/herself and ask him/her for permission to publish it. I sincerely hope that soon the day will come when we will receive sufficient photographs worth admiring and that I will no longer have the need to contact anybody, leading to growth of Gallery 24 to Gallery 28 :)

Robert, selector of Gallery 24

Send us 3 photos per issue maximum.

Send each photograph in a separate e-mail

Name the photograph: name-surname-photograph name.jpg

Send photographs as a .jpg file

Every photograph has to be 1,000 pixels in its wider side / resolution: 72 dpi

Maximum photograph size is 1MB.

http://www.blur-magazine.com/submission/photo-submission/

BLUR MAGAZINE 15

BLUR MAGAZINE 15

Abadis father gave him his first Russian camera SME-NA 8, which the photographer has kept to this very day, emphasizing that it made him realize good photos are not only made with expensive cameras. As a student, he took pictures of weddings and soccer clubs in order to earn some pocket money. At the same time he took nu-merous pictures of Vukovar, and thus developed a poetic sensitivity for its heritage, the old streets, rooftops, roads, melancholic views of time stopped sensitivity of a boy who loved the past. In

terv

iew

Stanko AbadiCroatia | http://www.sabadzic.net.amis.hr/

Nudes

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The last adventure of the 20th century belonged to photographers witnesses of distressful moments of an epoch equ-ally filled with both beauty and terror.

Wars, catastrophes, upheavals and revolutions times in which human life loses all sense, and thereby its pivotal connection with God have been recor-ded thanks to photographers. On the other hand, the infinite beauty of the world, human faces lined with memo-ries, frantic megalopolises with towers reaching the skies, they all remember these loners who, camera in hand that natural extension of their curious being collect important moments into a uni-versal scrapbook of life.

To save a particle of time from obli-vion indeed means to save it from sure death. It is also a search for traces of re-maining beauty, the beauty that will, so

says Dostoevsky, save the world. A member of these last adventurers of

the century, that nomadic tribe, is also a famous Croatian photographer Stanko Abadi, a teacher of German, a citizen of Prague, Zagreb and Krk, in short a citizen of the world. In Vukovar, the town where he was born, a baroque wonder on the Danube, a town that gave a hear-ty welcome to all people, he learnt how to love the world. Recognizing the sen-sibility of his 15-year-old son, Abadis father gave him his first Russian camera SMENA 8, which the photographer has kept to this very day, emphasizing that it made him realize good photos are not only made with expensive cameras. As a student, he took pictures of wed-dings and soccer clubs in order to earn some pocket money. At the same time he took numerous pictures of Vukovar,

Abadi was inspired by the French photographer Willy Ronis, who li-stens to Bach before taking photos, in developing his own romantic pil-grimages and rituals, in visiting mysterious little hideouts. He liked to go to the Literarna kavarna in Tynska street, which was hidden from the city bustle. At the market in Havelska street he would first buy a cantaloupe and then have an espresso and a glass of mineral water in Tynska street. And still, he was mostly drawn to the mysterious surroundings of the royal palace of Hradani, where the streets are cobbled and the spring air is fi-lled with the scent of the locust tree and flowering violets.

RECORDING THE SOLITUDE OF HISTORY

BLUR MAGAZINE 15

and thus developed a poetic sensitivity for its heritage, the old streets, rooftops, roads, melancholic views of time sto-pped sensitivity of a boy who loved the past.

During high school the artist took part in extracurricular technical educa-tion. He was also member of the Photo-club Borovo and had several joint and independent exhibitions in Borovo and Vukovar. His journeys throughout the world began in Tunisia, on Malta and in Istanbul, where he worked as a reporter for Vjesnik, a national daily. More than 3,000 negatives that were on file from that time, as well as his boyhood photos of Vukovar were destroyed and lost fo-rever during the terrible devastation of the city.

From 1995 till 2002 Abadi lived in Prague a capital of the world, which had been turned into the most mysteri-ous city in Europe by its educated rulers Charles IV and Rudolph II. Eight hundred towers adorn the capital of the most be-autiful part of Middle Ages, the town to which the Habsburg ruler Rudolph II invited not only leading European in-tellectuals, but also magicians, mystics and alchemists who were to search for the elixir of youth and the secret to the transformation of gold.

This was more than enough to attract a sensitive and curious photographer with a taste for ancient streets, bridges and towers. Abadi worked in Prague as a free-lance photographer, partly also for the Superposter company, taking pictures of billboards on the streets for the companys archives. It is worth no-

ting that in three days he made more money than he did teaching German during his first year in Prague. He socia-lized with students of FAMU and visited their exhibitions at the Velryba gallery. He was never interested in the touri-sty Prague, but in silent Kafkian views, in the somewhat gloomy, melancholy streets that bear silence in their old-fashioned streetlights, old pavements, deep shadows, shops with old mirrors and typewriters.

Abadi was inspired by the French photographer Willy Ronis, who listens to Bach before taking photos, in deve-loping his own romantic pilgrimages and rituals, in visiting mysterious little hideouts. He liked to go to the Literarna kavarna in Tynska street, which was hid-den from the city bustle. At the market in Havelska street he would first buy a cantaloupe and then have an espresso and a glass of mineral water in Tynska street. And still, he was mostly drawn to the mysterious surroundings of the royal palace of Hradani, where the streets are cobbled and the spring air is filled with the scent of the locust tree and flowering violets.

A series of photographs is devoted to walls with old-fashioned streetlights that encompass Hradani. In the ma-nner of James Stewart in Rear Window he especially liked to watch a small squ-are, its changes, its people, its transfor-mations of light... And yes, this admirer of Prague could not keep away from Zla-ta ulika from where he brings us a very unusual sight part of a rooftop and a window with a child peeking through

it. The snow-covered streets of Prague offer us a wide range of remembrance, unlocking the spaces of our own me-mories and dreams.

On the terrace of the Bazar caf, Abadi took a photo of a man swee-ping the floor next to the fountain, dee-ply lost in his own thoughts. He took another picture of the square in winter. Apart from the loneliness of places and people, Abadi is also interested in the quiet pulsing of life, as the great U.S. writer Henry Miller would call it, so he photographed a Czech woman playing the harmonica next to a wall, a painter working alone in a square, two rabbis

in the ancient Jewish ghetto and a well-dressed man reading in the light of an old-fashioned lamp.

These are all scenes that revive an old era, one might say, scenes that keep re-peating themselves through the centu-ries. They also prove that cities live in va-rious times, in the antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque and not only in the frantic pace of the 21st century. This is also proven by Abadis photos of Prague windows through which one can see old-fashioned dolls. Most attractive are old stores, cafs and breweries with poster-adds resurrected from the 1920s. Photographs of crum-

BLUR MAGAZINE 15

bling old walls covered in ivy, of parks with rain puddles also give forth this air of aging.

In the suburbs of Prague, Abadi took pictures of the forgotten a man carrying tires and behind him the shiny add for Kleber or a man with a radio in front of a wall with an old add for Nivea. In a side street a chimneysweep gives a light to his colleague. Abadi also appreciates female beauty, as is proven by Lenka a portrait of a be-autiful young woman under a tree. The Prague metro, Zliin, is not forgotten, it is recorded through a grid of shadows. Yet, most of all, Abadi likes to take pictures of lonely people having a pri-vate dialogue with the city, like the boy on a lawn standing in front of sheets

drying on the line. Some photos of Prague are surreal

like the manifold shadows of a bicycle but most surreal of all is the photo-graph in which the shadowy pavement is cut by a beam of light resembling a keyhole. The photo of a man whose fruit-laden bicycle fell over Abadi took from a window, highlighting the structure of the old pavement, the spi-lled fruit and the outline of the stoo-ping man.

Abadi visited not only Prague, but also Budapest, where he took the mo-ving photograph of the stooping old lady in front of the Goethe Institut, Vi-enna, from where comes the photo of the Havelka caf, Krakow and its dilapi-dated caf Camelot and Zagreb, whe-

re he photographed an old lady walking past a poster announcing an exhibit of photographs by Too Dabac!

The island of Krk has also many a mysterious antique to offer our artist. The stone buildings are always photo-graphed with a child, filling the pho-to with joy. Some children run along a street in Baka, holding bread in their hands, another scene shows us an old man with a sheep, four passionate card players show through their straw hats, an elderly man happily floats in the sea with a glass in his hand... Abadis favo-rite images are the spray of the sea on bathers, the joy of young lovers playing on the beach, the lovely bays around Baka with their straw sunshades.

Naturally, the photographers path fi-nally led him to Dubrovnik

an architectural masterpiece whose beauty leaves a mark in everybodys he-art. In the old town, Abadi records de-tails that tell the story of historic layers, the spirit, philosophy and history of maybe the most magnificent European city; studies of details such as a stone hand reaching out from a wall, a lovely womans leg next to an ancient column, the shadows of passers-by and lamps on an old wall. And indeed, he did not forget the churches, ramparts, the port, cafs, lanes with winding staircases, etc. In his wanderings along the Adriatic co-ast, Abadi also took pictures of the ha-mlet of Lubenice on the island of Cres, the coastal motorway and the ships, each time capturing an unusual detail of a backyard or billboard.

In Rijeka he recorded, like Orson

Welles, the puzzling design of a sece-ssionist stairway, in Istria the fence of a forgotten place... And finally, let us mention a photograph so characteri-stic of Abadi the end of the tourist season in Baka in which he recorded an abandoned town with sad metal scaffolding and puddles underneath... a most appropriate symbol of the century showing a magical interweaving of te-chnology and nature.

Abadi records the loneliness of hi-story, he searches for the lost views of existence. But most of all, his camera is the means with which he reveals the lo-neliness of worlds, cities and people sto-pped in the infinity of time. For, in spite of the frantic pulsing of life, in spite of enormous cities and communication te-chnologies, human beings have never been so lonely. Mass societies and con-temporary media have created their pa-radox. There are lonely women and men sitting in rooms with their memories. A boy walking the streets in the artists photograph is not at all different from a boy sitting alone in a room. In Abadis streets we thus sense only silence the silence of people, of rooftops and of walls. These photographs are sensuous, contemplative and melancholic. There are people walking in them whose lo-neliness merges with the loneliness of cities. It is a dialogue of history and in-dividuals. It is the viewpoint of a wan-dering photographer who one day may visit you and your city...

Marina Tenera

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Whats the most important thing you want to show in nude art photograp-hs? The female body, the facial expression of the nude woman or something entirely different? All mentioned is important. A good nude photo starts with the face, an interesting radiant face. Then you discover the body. The atmosphere is very important; I dont think much of sterile art nudes with neutral backgrounds. They significantly reduce the amount of information discernable in artistic nude photography. When you see the setting in whi-ch your model is situated, this makes for a richer experience, at least in my opinion. In nude photography, theres always the danger of slipping into kitsch or vulgarity, and thats why its so difficult to produce a good nude photo. I think I managed to do quite well with In front of the mirror (Pred ogledalom), taken in the Czech Republic in 2000, because these were my only photographs the entire edition of which was sold and is no longer ava-ilable for purchase.

Are the models in your photographs your acquaintances, and how did you get them interested in posing? Was it relatively easy or difficult for you to get models? First of all, the word model should be in quotation marks, because Ive never photographed professional models. Im not interested in this because they all play someone else, not themselves. Theyre not au-thentic; they just copy their poses in thousands of copies. Im not into that. My models are regular girls I meet in towns or cities where I hold exhibiti-ons. In the Czech Republic, to answer your question, is not very difficult to find girls for nude photos, because they simply like to be photographed. Its difficult at first, but then one friend recommends another and thats how it gets going.

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Stanko AbadiCroatia | http://www.sabadzic.net.amis.hr

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What advice would you give to photographers who have no success in their search for nude models? Patience, confidence

A lot of authors take to nude photography. What makes your effort diffe-rent? The world consumes photography, but photography also consumes the world. There isnt a single place on Earth where a photographer hasnt set foot. In this flood of photographic images, its very difficult to present so-mething new, authentic and your own. This is especially important for nude photography. Nudity surrounds us: its in the media, the newspapers and on newsstands, in commercials, on billboards, it jumps on us from TV screens. There are few products today that arent advertised using the naked female figure. Ive tried hard to reveal my permanent inspiration with the female form to the observer of my photography. Ive taken photos of women in such a way to present them as subjects, not objects of exploitation, as this is often the case with commercials and the media. I wanted to express my respect for them, to affirm the beauty and aesthetics of the body. In other words, I wanted to express the poetic image of the female body.

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You use analogue cameras only. What equipment do you use, what films and where do you develop your photos? Yes, unlike some of my colleagues, I tend to reduce the amount of equipment I use. I own a Pentax 645 N with a wide-angle 50 mm Carl Zeiss lens, because of its incredible optics. Its a medium format. Whenever Im able to, I buy Ilford films, and if those arent available I opt for Fuji. As a correspondent of Vjesnik from Vukovar, where I was born, I used to develop photos in my own dark room. I dont do that anymore as years go by and I get older, I but wish to photograph. The films are now developed by my lab assistant in Prague, who Ive successfully co-llaborated with for the last 15 years. All my photos are developed on barite paper, which will be my practice for as long as the medium is available.

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Whats your opinion on digital photography and have you ever used it?I admit my attitude towards the digital has softened over the years. I work with publishing companies (Disput, Meandar, Ljevak, Fraktura, Durieux) on various book covers, which is the reason why I have lately used digital came-ras too. A digital camera has its advantages. Its faster and cheaper than its analogue counterpart. For one thing, there is no expense for development and film. In news photography, its irreplaceable you can send in the pho-tos directly from the front lines. Its irreplaceable as well in modern digital design. But it has its flaws too. The possibility to take endless amounts of photos lowers down your own personal criteria. Its wrong to operate un-der the presumption that one good photo out of a hundred is a good deal. Thats why the most commonly used digital camera button today is delete. Another negative aspect is the fact that its more difficult to prove and ma-intain ownership rights to digital photos, because its easier to manipulate and steal them. Thre were such cases, and well have more of them

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Youre one of few Croatian photographers that have been internationally re-cognized. What do you think is the reason for that? I discovered photograp-hy in Prague. I never intended to sell my photography, but rather use it to get through a less than rosy reality of living in exile. I relied on it heavily - this was my balancing force. And with initial gallery success, I became more and more confident I wanted to nothing else but photography. This dedication and concentration, as well as love for photography, produced results. But in order to get into galleries, you have to push your luck a little, which me-ans be more active during exhibitions, have good web site, be published in world magazines, etc. Then you have to find a gallery in which your profile of photography will fit in perfectly. In my case this is classical photography, so I looked for galleries that fit the description. Of course, speaking several foreign languages is also very helpful. And once youre networked, exhibiti-ons start happening.

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In what way are you engaged in helping younger authors? Other than a couple of lectures and presentations of my work in high schools and the Zagreb Photo Club, not too much. We all fight our own battles. Thats how it goes.

Do you keep track of domestic photography, young, professional photo-graphers in particular? Not too much, but I do enjoy seeing a young authors exhibition every now and then.

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Do you believe a photographer has to be trained in order to present quality work and be recognized? If one should judge by my example, no, because I unfortunately do not have photography training. Ive socialized with FAMU students in Prague and have seen cases where students dropped out of sc-hool and still managed to become famous and recognized authors. On the other hand, Ive seen people with master degrees who could barely put to-gether a single exhibit. Theres also one more interesting example: Miroslav Tichy. Aged over 80, a bohemian, living somewhat carelessly; he developed his own camera from a pair of binoculars and took pictures of women. The photos were blurry, technically incorrect. This in the chaos he lived in, with everything lying on the floor, damaged and tainted. Then one day, a Swiss gallery owner came along, picked everything up from the floor, set up an exhibition and after that every gallery in the world is competing for Miro-slav Tichy. Theyre now making a movie, publishing books The man had never had a single exhibition before! Personally, Ive seen his photos on sale for 10.000 dollars each, during the Paris Photo fair. This is an example of the power modern curators have as well.

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Did you have any problems with exhibition venues, and were you successful in setting up exhibits because of your photographs or because of your fame? I had no problems. On the contrary, Ive exhibited twice in Mimara, although I had to finance that myself through sponsors. My international success has surely contributed, but this is the sole factor. Good quality always finds its way to a suitable exhibition space.

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Where in the world did you exhibit, and which of the events is your favo-rite? Ive held independent exhibitions in Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Argentina, Japan and the United States. Japan impre-ssed me the most. Its so much different its almost impossible to forget. Its a nation of immense curiosity towards other cultures, and they show genuine respect towards their work, so they are almost incomparable to other coun-tries in this regard.

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What are your future plans? After the Unterwegs exhibition earlier this year in August, in the Fototreppe 42 gallery in Hanau, Germany, which features my photographs taken during my travels through many countries (Croatia, Germany, Japan, Turkey, etc.), Ill devote my time to a fourth book release from Meandar, Zagreb, titled Marginalije (Marginal Glosses). If this works out as planned, Im also thinking of making an exhibition with the photos from the book. With no people this time. Next year, Im having an arran-ged exhibition in Santa Fe, USA, as well as in Istanbul, Turkey, in the Pg Art Gallery.

Finally, Id like to say one more thing Its all beautiful the exhibitions, the galleries, the curators But I feel the best simply when Im taking photo-graphs. This is a joy I wouldnt trade for anything in the world.

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selected and questions: Robert Gojevictranslation: Ivan Pekarik

proofreading: Davor Juricic

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AL

Art Limited is an elegant high-featured artist community for artists, art lovers and critics. This site features personal and original creative works that are well recognized and appreciated. If you wish to only comment on the art and take advantage of the message center and forums to engage in dialog with the artists (art dealer, gallery director, curator, artist agent, publisher, gallery representative, image researcher, collector, press, communication),you can do so through an "observer" account. If the quality of your work is recognized and original, join us now.

BE CREATIVE,BE IMAGINATIVEBE YOURSELF!

ART LIMITED COMMUNITYwww.artlimited.net

photography painting drawing design digital models sculpture

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http://www.artlimited.net/index.php

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DONT MISS US..Make sure you dont miss new Blur magazine issue - sign up for ournewsletter and we will keep you informed!

NEWSLETTER

http://www.blur-magazine.com/newsletter/

Let me introduce you to a very special project. Its about some extraordinary women who speak of the-ir souls using the camera. Thanks to photography we nowadays have the oppor-tunity to use great instru-ments able to capture our secrets and peculiarities. For this reason people use their cameras more and more often just like poets used pens in the past.

This is a story of dreams coming to life. This is our story, a dance of souls.

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Marianne Le Carrour | Andreea Anghel | Alessandra Lanzafame

Soul tales II

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Marianne Le CarrourFrancuska | http://www.mariannelecarrour.net/

Soul tales II

MARIANNE LE CARROUR started as an amateur and despite being comple-tely self thought, is now really appreciated as a professional photographer. She combines traditional artistic expressions with the contemporary ones in order to create dreamlike situations, expressed in her portraits and self portraits. After having lived firstly in Paris, then in London and United Sta-tes, she continues with her personal research by participating in many co-llective experiments since 2004.

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Marianne Le CarrourFrancuska

| http://www.mariannelecarrour.net/

Soul tales II

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Andreea AnghelRomania | http://cigaro.carbonmade.com/

Soul tales II

ANDREEA ANGHEL is 19 years old and she is still attending high school.In her spare time she started experimenting with photography and photo manipulation which soon became her passion. Her motives are mostly pe-ople and visualization of their degradation, problems they have or provoke, basically human nature itself. Andrea started exploring these themes when she was only 16 and wishes to develop in this direction because she belie-ves that human-related motives can transfer deeper messages and manifest (show) beauty despite all imperfections of life.

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Andreea AnghelRomania | http://cigaro.carbonmade.com/

Soul tales II

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Alessandra LanzafameItaly | http://www.myspace.com/alessandralanzafame

Soul tales II

ALESSANDRA LANZAFAME was born in Catania on 12th November 1983. Her mother told her that it snowed that day which made her mother be-lieve that something strange is about to happen in Sicily. Alessandra is a true art lover, especially of that kind of art that gives her the opportunity to travel frequently and which can surpass all limits, penetrate under skin and get stuck inside of mind. Since she was a child she always enjoyed drawing and painting, and in order to better express her inner world, she attended Art Institute (gdje?). At the age of 19 she completely fell in love with pho-tography as it gave her the power to freeze every special detail of a single moment, both realistic and imaginary ones. When she was 21 she moved to Rome to study Photography at the European Institute of Design (IED), with the hope to find, not only a good job, but also new inspirations. She consi-ders photography a good traveling mate which helps her express her own conscience. When the shutter listens to her for an endless second, her body shakes her soul and makes her trust and dedicate herself to the light which seeps through the eye of the camera, the most pure eye, in her opinion. What is the aim of her photographic research? To freeze a moment that may contain and reveal the infinite of her Being.

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Alessandra LanzafameItaly | http://www.myspace.com/alessandralanzafame

Soul tales II

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Alessandra LanzafameItaly | http://www.myspace.com/

alessandralanzafame

Soul tales II

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selected: Loredana Guinicelli translation: Anamarija Kova

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Alessandra LanzafameItaly | http://www.myspace.com/

alessandralanzafame

Soul tales II

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Gallery 24 project submission

Robert, selector of Gallery 24

A photo project can be submitted but by an author that plans and revolves, which makes the photogra-phers professionals. We are talking about a photogra-pher that is no longer an amateur, who no longer ex-plores without control and who manages to crystallize his ambitions.

This probably happens in the moment when we criti-cally observe all of our photographs and find out that our gallery isnt very homogeneous. We usually face this when creating our own web photo gallery and when we get stuck with how to divide links and themes. Dozens of our successful photographs suddenly seem as a work of a bunch of different authors. In other words, this is when we notice lack of our individual mark.

After this revealing moment of truth, we start to think and photograph differently. Endless clicking stops and there are no more numerous photographs of every sin-gle motive that seems nice and interesting. Hunting time starts. Goal - predefined theme.

Therefore, a project you submit needs to have same artistic values as those described in Gallery 24. Moreover, they have to be somehow connected, parts of a mean-ingful whole. Although we always publish each photo on a separate page in order to observe and admire it easily, it is expected that all these photographs are com-patible either according to style, theme or a certain sto-ry. Furthermore, we expect to find out something ad-

ditional about the author himself/herself through his/her work, something we cannot read in the biography. When it comes to choosing a theme, we dont wish to set any limits. What we value most is a project somehow visualizing and communicating authors opinion on the chosen theme.

As we already explained in Gallery 24, the aim of this magazine is to provide space for all those amazing and special photographs, without insisting on certain techniques, tools, instruments or topics. In case you produced a thematically connected series of photographs, submit your whole photo project!

How? This is very simple:1. Write some info about your project: where it was taken, what inspired you, what the idea behind was, which message you are trying to get across and how many photographs there are in your project.2. Send us your URL where the whole project can be seen.3. If your project is selected, you will be contacted and asked to provide further detailed information about the project and yourself (brief biography).

http://www.blur-magazine.com/submission/project-submission/

Which projects do we prefer?

selected: Kresimir Zadravec | translation: Anamarija Kovac | proofreading: Vedran Korusic

http://www.valdoo.netVladimir Longauer

http://www.vladimirlongauer.com

I would probably describe myself as an author in search of strong details, or timeless angles. Im fascinated by anything thats black and white to begin with, anything mysterious, with a comic book touch to it. When I identify my motifs, I tell myself what I personally feel about them, and then transfer all those ideas into final post-processing, which is crucial in expressing wanted atmosphere.

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Ana LorencinCroatia | http://10343.photography.artlimited.net

Visions

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Visions

In the beginning, it was all total inexperience and igno-rance. The only thing that I had were visions, visions of some special, different worlds, imaginary situations, pa-rallel realities I mean, my photographic experience doesnt exactly go way back, but this is a topic Ill deal with a bit later.I first did painting, which was, as many people around me believed, the only real route for me to take. But now, as I look back, I see myself as one of many young hyped-up semi-artists/punkers that sing in bands and spend more time philosophizing than doing anything origi-nal. Back then, my world was dark and gloomy, no one appreciated or understood me There was the occasi-onal exhibition now and then, followed by comments ranging from Hey, this sucks, I dont understand any of this to those benevolent phrases you usually get after a couple of drinks, like Honey, this is really something special Can you spare a cigarette?The paint eventually dried up, education was over and the artist within me hid away. Something snapped; I didnt do anything that was remotely related to creativi-ty. God, I even spent some time working in a shoe store, but not in a charming way, within reason, like people do cheesy jobs in movies to save up money to go traveling or study for a year in Paris or something. No, this was simple, numbing, everyday work with nothing good co-ming out of it other than meeting a wonderful and dear friend who I remained close with to this day, laughing and remembering about those days.But I digress. As the story should be about photography,

its about time for me to explain how it all began In 2003, I started going back to my roots, and started working part-time in a multimedia company as a desi-gner. The part-time gig switched to full-time, my inte-rests and demand for creativity grew, new things came along, new tools, and so did digital photography which was, to my great fortune, available to everyone. My first camera was a solid compact Konica Minolta. I spent days watching the world around me, perplexed by the way it consumed me. Spending time in nature became a long process of studying every cloud, grass and sea shore, which remains one of my most frequent motifs to this very day. In the city, I used to photograph people, traffic, the joys and sorrows, but my art was sometimes wron-gly interpreted as Ive come to realize upon getting whacked on the head with a wet squid by a couple of old ladies who confused me for a prowling local news-paper photographer. Today, I either ask politely, or shoot from a safe distance.I can say that photography has taught me how to look at the world differently. I know that sounds tacky, but its really true. The exhilaration you get from a well chosen and preserved moment is priceless. The feelings of sto-pping the time and my personal visions always impress me anew, because, in the end, the main thing you get out of it is your own gut feeling.I would probably describe myself as an author in sear-ch of strong details, or timeless angles. Im fascinated by anything thats black and white to begin with, anyt-hing mysterious, with a comic book touch to it. When

I identify my motifs, I tell myself what I personally feel about them, and then transfer all those ideas into final post-processing, which is crucial in expressing wanted atmosphere. I rarely prepare and plan my photos, they come to exist spontaneously, Id even say messily, im-pulsively. I grab my gear, sit in my car and drive witho-ut knowing where, until I just stop and find something that occupies my attention. But this is mostly a character thing, I suppose.In any case, I believe everybody can and must find a way to express what he/she has within. Anything we do can be art, be it art of selling shoes, making bread, making love or in my case I hope photography. Just do what you do with sincerity, and do it from the heart.

selected: Robert Gojevictranslation: Ivan Pekarik

proofreading: Davor Juricic

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Visions

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The world of photography is full of subjective and endless discussions: black and white or full color photography, filters or without, digitally processed or a set of harmonized settings, analo-gue or digital film... One could go on forever. And, of course, there is personal experience behind every answer, as well as personal experience, emotional attachment, but also rational argumen-tation.

We would like to know about your thoughts and opinions. We plan to present a new theme, a new question in every issue, and you can send us your statements and explanations that support these or otherwise via e-mail or by using this link directly. We will publish most interesting an-swers in our next issue.

We believe in Polaroid as a strong and unique counterpart to digitalized world that were living in. The Digital Revolution completely changed the perspectives, possibilities but also the character of photo-graphy. After some years of playing and experimenting with their new digital cameras, people began to miss some aspects of analogue instant photography which they had not been aware of before - or even complained about.

They started longing for real pictures which they could touch, feel and smell. Looking at all the per-fect and clean digital pictures, they remembered more and more the good days when every single pictu-re was an experiment, an unpredictable adventure, slowly developing in the palms of their hands. They even had to accept the fact that they started missing the high purchase price of analogue Instant film as they found out that it really helps taking good pictures when carefully pushing the trigger, aware of every click costing real money. Polaroid film stands for unpredictable visual adventures combined with a splendid retro-style feeling.

This time we were inspired by a brave Impossible project, founded by a group of enthusiasts that will reproduce analogue instant film (further info on the here!).

When asked what the reason behind the challenge is and why they believe the project will not only be possible, but also very successful, they said:

Our questions: do you think instant photography is by certain properties more valuable than digital photography? What are the advantages of Polaroid cameras when compared to digital ones? There are great numbers of loyal users of Polaroid technique worldwide. Do you believe the retro aspect of instant film can create a new fashion boom in photo-graphy world and increase Polaroid art scene further? Would you, besides your digital camera, also appreciate having a Polaroid one?

Send away!

[email protected]

http://www.blur-magazine.com/contact/

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From a digital magazine to digital mediaGloBULB is a monthly recognition to the best web pages in the domain of photography.

Galleries, photography blogs and personal web pages of successful pho-tographers are often works of art on their own merit but, sadly, often unnoticed by the general public. The GloBULB Award aims to spread the awareness of the importance of interac-tive and modern Internet promotion of the art of photography, which is un-justly ignored by many ex-cellent photographers.

Aware of the fact that an excellent photographer might not be an excel-lent web designer, we will base the GloBULB Award primarily on the criteria of the quality of exhibited photography on the web site. Of course, an advan-tage will be given to those web sites that add to the authors originality with an equally original web pres-entation, implemented technical solutions and quality of web design.

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ULB

Ivan Pekarik

Best PhotographyWeb Site Award

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Ivan PekarikDanska | http://www.bombayfc.com/

Bombay Flying Club

A project started by three freelance news photographers, Poul Madsen and Henrik Kastenskov from Denmark and Brent Foster from Canada, mostly thrills by its original idea their website is a representa-tion not only of exceptional photography, not only of exceptional web design, but a representation of exceptional journalism, journalism suited to the 21st century. Although each of the three photographers has his own gallery on the site, these are secondary (somewhat hidden behind the navigational links at the top of the page). The primary focus is on their multimedia photo-journalistic stories, which is inci-dentally a wonderful usage of modern web technologies. The impressive and emotional combination of artistic photography, video and narration which is objective at the same time presents different topics. From the intrigue of an old man who decided to leave behind the modern world and live in an abandoned bus in the middle of the forest, to disturbing testimonies about Indian death-mines, to a story that touches the problems of the industrial pollution in the Third World.

Despite journalist ambition, each of the presentations is a visual master piece. The photography is strong, impressive and technically impeccable, and even the video clips seem like photos brought to life, with carefully planned framing, lighting and top-notch post production. If these would be presented in an art gallery, the news stories wouldnt look out of place at all. On the contrary, this is exactly what they deserve and this website is an ideal replacement for the traditional media, which is the backbone of the entire project. These photographers had a clear message to send the traditional media do not make full use of the Internet and modern technologies. So they decided to show the world how its done.

The web site is entirely Flash-based, and the quality of production and photo/video encoding is re-markable using a typical broadband connection, one can watch all the material in high resolution, even with the browser spread across the full screen. This maximizes the size of the content as well, with design and navigation elements of the site usually being minimalistic. The visitor can thus be completely submerged in the shocking and emotional world of true, sincere reporting.

If youve ever wondered what a true photo reporter with news photography as a calling rather than merely a profession would do without the pressure of editorial policies and marketing agendas, the an-swer is Bombay Flying Club. Dont miss it for the world!

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Join in!And nominAte your fAvorites!

If you are aware of an innovative, imaginative and original Web site, of a good photographer, please dont hesitate to send us your suggestions! Simply send us the link, followed with a short explanation of your proposal, to [email protected]. Our staff will take note of your suggestions and add them to our ever growing lists of web pages that qualify for the GloBULB plaque!

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When I think about it, I know that is one of the best photo things that ever happened to me. From the moment when, with a spe-cific buzz, it finds its way through the tiny passage in the camera, which kind of spits it on my palm, and I watch it as some kind of miracle, fading in gently. And I admire it for being so beautiful at all stages of the development, chan-ging its density, colors and contrasts and then beco-mes something else. So human-like. Polaroid is be-ing born, it comes to be, it fades, it dies.

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Mare MilinPolaroid is being born, it comes to be, it fades, it dies

Polaroid

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Once upon a time, in my childhood, there was a certain picture of somebody, riding an elephant at the circus. It was sold to us for a little fortune and I remember my Mom and Dad about that for a while. Why did you fall for that, look at it, it will disappear after a while, so

whats the use etc, etc...It was a photograph of my brother or a cousin of mine, it was dark and blurry, elephants eyes had that strange flare from the flash bulb, the photographer was a dark tanned man with huge moustache, who barely spoke Croatian.

How can that all disappear? Where does the photograph go? How does it die? Why so? I was only 5 or something. My first encounter with a Polaroid.And that was it. Nobody bought that kind of camera for me, I wasnt the little Einstein of Po-

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Mare Milin Polaroid is being born, it comes to be,

it fades, it dies

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laroid photography, nothing happened. It was too expensive. The photo from the circus was all I knew about polaroids for a long time. That one and some polaroids that nana Nevenka brought from US and Australia: my relatives li-ving rooms, blue sofas upholstered with nylon, outdoors swimming pools, Christmas trees in

winter and summer as well, group photos in front of various gates, barbecues...

And then, after so many years, when I already knew what I wanted to do with (and for) my life, one fine day, one Daniel, God bless him, brought a silly old camera he owned because

he just didnt know what to do with it. And he gave to me as a present. It was Polaroid Land SX 70. True sacrilege. Now I know that. Howe-ver, there was no film for that kind of camera. So it stood still for years, again, and was almost forgotten, until, one fine day, I came across the last remaining of now late SX 70 film. I found it

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on the almost sold out shelf of a big camera and film store in Hollywood. It was in 2006.. my camera was living in dark for 8 years, already. Soon, during my stay in US it got a compani-on, cute, modern Spectra, one of those with a small LCD screen. There were still loads of film for that one. I didnt even know my Land SX 70

could work until I tried it out with one out of two purchased films (there were only 4 on the shelf and now I know it was the last time I saw those). My camera buzzed as soon as it was fed, it worked, the photos came out looking good. I was overwhelmed. Unhappy at the same time, I had only two films. Michael from

Santa Monica told me I could use Polaroid 600 with certain adjustments. Only thing I needed was my Swiss army knife and it worked again. The 600 is much mire sensitive than SX 70. It was no problem for me, I love shooting in the dark. And when the mania hits you, anything is good. You get along just fine, plenty of tricks there.

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And that is how my dear Desiree, starting from that summer, carried serious amounts of 600 and 1200 in her hand luggage, from New York to Croatia. She would buy it in one amazing store in NY, which would oddly close on Fri-days around 1 or 2 PM, and then reopened on Sunday. There are still some leftovers of my stash in the fridge. You cant buy those anymo-re, no way. Nothing besides Spectra, I checked on the internet the other day, and the price is double now. Ouch.The other day Desiree arrived from the States

with nothing such as that sensitive little pac-kage in her purse. And just few months ago, hoping this could last forever, I spent huge amounts of 600 on a beautiful project, I gue-ss I was carried away a lot. The project ended hanging some 4 meters from the floor, which is actually good. The beauty was printed huge (I love huge) in digital print (ouch), on the la-minated stickers (!). the photographs were decorated with imprinted logo of the studio which printed them. I was happy they were hanging so high, so

only some, sharp-eyed persons could see the disgrace of somebodys self-promotion on so-mebody elses artwork. Does it happen only in Croatia or what? However, that is some other story. I am writing a requiem here.

For those who really, but really dont know, the Polaroid factory slowly faded away, the films are scarce or out of production for years now. The other day, I was reading a book (Annie Le-ibovitz: At Work), and she mentioned, with a

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lot of love, how there were times where shed rather shoot polaroid negatives than film ne-gatives. A lot of work that way, but those were vivid, big, beautiful photographs. I never he-ard of it, or saw it. And I am so in love with the media, owning only two cameras, such a small piece of once huge empire.When I think about it, I know that is one of the best photo things that ever happened to me. From the moment when, with a specific buzz, it finds its way through the tiny passage in the camera, which kind of spits it on my palm, and

I watch it as some kind of miracle, fading in gently. And I admire it for being so beautiful at all stages of the development, changing its density, colors and contrasts and then beco-mes something else. So human-like. Polaroid is being born, it comes to be, it fades, it dies. I love those tiny images. I stack them. Feast for my eyes, at all their stages.I also love the expansion of that small format to a huge, even immense one. I am talking meters, it brings out its beautiful, perfect gra-in. I have always been a big fan of pointillism

in painting, high school art classes with profe-ssor ivka.I love its color spectrum, the contrast of fully developed picture, an odd precision of details, despite such a small format, not to mention half tones. No Photoshop can ever reach that with a regular digital image, with all the res-pect for the other important sacrilege. I love the way it behaves as a pillow, as if it was stuffed with some evaporating liquid, its sur-face soft but hard, dry but still wet. Dont take this too literally.

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it fades, it dies

Polaroid

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All in all, strange little media. And, although this is a kind of requiem, there will be no wake for the dead.Some nice people, apparently, are trying to bring all the late Polaroids back to life. Some might find this analogy better: they are all Snowhites, laying there, in the middle of the

woods, waiting for their Prince Charming to help them get rid of the poisoned apple, stuck deeply in their throats. So please, keep the fin-gers crossed for all those Princes, to succeed in what they are doing, and give all those sweet Snowhites back to us.So that the circus guy with big moustache can

keep taking polaroids of elephant riders, and maybe cast a spell on another little child, for as long as the first loaded polaroid camera co-mes along and solves the mystery of a dying media. Or?

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it fades, it dies

Polaroid

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it fades, it dies

Polaroid

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Great discoveries sometimes come from ideas encouraged by very quotidian situ-ations. Edwin Herbert Land (1909 1991), American scientist and innovator, found himself in one of these situations while va-cationing in Mexico in 1944. His three year old daughter Jennifer asked why she could not see the photograph just after being ta-ken. Land decided to please childrens curi-osity and started considering many options while walking for an hour in Santa Fe. He found a few solutions and perfected some of them during the next three years.

Lands name is connected to 533 innova-tions which he registered. The impressive number is paralleled in current American history only by Thomas Edison.

Even as a boy, Land was fascinated with kaleidoscopes, so he read different literatu-

re on optics and polarized light in particu-lar. He started studying at Harvard in 1926, but in order to satisfy his curious nature, he moved to New York, where he spent his days in a public library and the laboratory of Columbia University. While walking one night through a very busy avenue , blinded by many city lights, he decided to develop a thin and cheap polarizer, which he succee-ded in after a few attempts, and having regi-stered his first patent, he returns to Harvard in 1929 to continue his studies. In 1932, he opened a laboratory in partnership with Ge-orge Wheelwrightom, where they made a large shipment of polarizer filters for Kodak. Professor Clarence Kennedy, their friend, na-med the filters polaroids, and the name took on. In 1937, Land founded Pthe olaroid com-pany in order to continue the work began with Wheelwright. During the war years, the company produced different military equi-

History of the PolaroidEdwin Herbert Land inventor and the founder of the Polaroid

His three year old daughter Jennifer asked why she could not see the photograph just after being taken. Land decided to please childrens curiosity and started considering many options while walking for an hour in Santa Fe.

LANDS INVENTION Lands Polaroid film featu-

res negative emulsion and positive paper in one. Af-ter triggering, negative and positive come into mutual contact. The image on the positive does not transmit light through, but chemicals placed between the positive and the negative. Positive appears from silver crystals unexposed negative that same silver, which when de-veloping regular negative film does not react. The mec-hanical process of combining the negative and the positive in a polaroid camera creates in a way a completely equi-pped dark chamber.

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Ivan Zidarindispensable effect


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USE OF POLAROIDApart from photographers, many professional groups took to Polaroid.

It is used in investigations by the police, during medical examinations, different research, measurements and verification of light on movie sets, etc. Detectives were always able to rely on Polaroid because they were sure the photographs were successful, while other cameras provided the uncertainty that lasted until one is out of the dark chamber.

pment, and in 1943, Polaroid turned to pho-tography. In 1947, the first commercial Po-laroid Land camera was produced, dubbed Model 95, which was part of a series produ-ced in between 1947 and 1963. These used film-type 40. Instant photography was not supposed to be developed in dark cham-bers, but developed within a few minutes immediately after triggering. While impro-ving existing and developing new products, in 1962, they produced the first colour film called Polacolor, after which the production of cheaper Swingers followed, cameras with plastic cases that were easy to use. A real bre-akthrough in the market followed in 1972. With the discovery of pack film, the most popular model SX-70 was produced, and is still in use. Many artists use the SX-70 beca-use of the possibility of intervening while developing, by inserting special extensions that are creating impressive effects. Film for SX-70 is quite difficult to obtain, but it is po-ssible to adjust cameras for film-type 600 by adding ND-filter, which reduces the amount of light entering camera lens. Film Type 600

was developed in 1980s along with the mo-del 600 that has been successfully produced up to 1990s. This was a cheaper camera de-signed for . Plastic cases and lenses were si-milar to Swingers, but with the ability to use pack films. Polaroid also developed two SRL cameras that use film-type 600: SRL 680 and SRL 690 which are still in demand because of excellent quality photos they produce.

During 1990s, digital cameras became more and more popular, and started to push Polaroid instant film cameras out of the market. Polaroid also introduced its own digital camera in 1996 to keep up with the latest innovations and market demands. In 2008, Polaroid stopped producing instant film cameras and films. Many Polaroid fans worldwide hope Polaroid will survive tech-nological trends and manage to survive as a distinct form. Its effect is indispensable, al-most fascinating. Polaroid allows one to mo-nitor the appearance of photographs and one cannot be completely sure what it will look like in the end, due to various unexpec-ted effects that the film can produce.

Lands name is connected to 533 innovations which he registered. The impressive number is paralleled in cu-rrent American history only by Thomas Edison.

Polarization of lightLight is an electromagne-

tic wave, the electric and magnetic particles of which vibrate each in own pla-ne, under the angle of 90 degrees to the direction of wave propagation. Polariza-tion of light appears from a reflection of light or when vibrating particles break the medium. Photography also uses polarization filters - fil-ters that will remove all light vibrating in planes which we do not require.

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Ivan Zidarindispensable effect


translation: Petra Nenadicproofreading: Davor Juricic


B L U R M A G A Z I N E E x l u s i v e m e d i a p a r t n e r o f T h e I m p o s s i b l e P r o j e c t

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Re-inventing instant film for vintage Polaroid cameras B L U R M A G A Z I N E E x l u s i v e m e d i a p a r t n e r o f T h e I m p o s s i b l e P r o j e c t


WHAT Polaroid is transforming itself from an ana-

log Instant Film Production Company to a glo-bal Consumer Electronics and Digital Imag-ing company, with new high quality products for the masses. Because of this re-positioning and running out of essential components, Polaroid globally stopped the production of analog Instant Film in June 2008, closing the factories in Mexico and the Netherlands. Im-possible B.V. acquired the complete produc-tion plant in Enschede (NL) from Polaroid and engaged the most experienced team of Inte-gral Film experts worldwide. The IMPOSSIBLE company is founded with one concrete aim: to re-invent and re-produce analog INTEGRAL FILM for vintage Polaroid cameras. Polaroid is fully aware and supportive of this goal. The IMPOSSIBLE mission is NOT to re-build Polar-oid Integral film but to develop a new prod-uct with new characteristics, consisting of new optimized components, produced with a streamlined modern setup. An innovative and fresh analog material, sold under a new brand name that perfectly matches the glo-bal re-positioning of Integral Film.

Hard Facts


WHY We believe in Polaroid as a strong and

unique counterpart to the digitalized world that were living in. The Digital Revolution completely changed the perspectives, possi-bilities but also the character of photography. After some years of playing and experiment-ing with their new digital cameras, people began to miss some aspects of analog instant photography which they had not been aware of before - or had even complained about.

They started longing for real pictures which they could touch, feel and smell. Looking at all the perfect and clean digital pictures, they remembered more and more the good days when every single picture was an experiment, an unpredictable adventure, slowly develop-ing in the palm of their hands. They even had to accept the fact that they started missing the high purchase price of analog Instant film as they found out that it really helps them to take good pictures when carefully push-ing the trigger, aware of every click costing them real money. Polaroid film stands for un-predictable visual adventures combined with a splendid retro-style feeling.




WHO Managers Andr Bosman, Netherlands (Executive Director, Head of Operation & Production) Florian Kaps, Austria (Executive Director, Marketing & Busi-ness Development) Marwan Saba, Austria (Non-Ex-ecutive Director, Finance & Legal) Employees Gerhard Kamphuis, Kees Teekman, Anne Bosma, Dick Koopmans, Bennie Evers, Martin Stein-meijer, Nico Dikken, Paul Latka, Henk Minnen

WHERE Office Headquarters: Impossible b.v. Overcinge 41 7608 AJ Almelo Niederlande Production: The Polaroid factory at Enschede, Neth-erlands

WHEN Launching October 1st, 2008, IMPOSSIBLE will de-velop this new, modern Integral Film within 15 months, with the aim to start production in 2010. We plan to produce 1 million films in the first year (2010), and 3 million films thereafter. We expact a maximal worldwide demand of 10 million films in the following years.

PRESS CONTACT Marlene Kelnreiter [email protected] +43 (0) 680 318 3077


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Executive Director of The Impossible ProjectThe Netherlands | http://www.the-impossible-project.com/

Florian Kaps



Do you remember your first experience with Polaroid?

My first polaroid picture was taken with a holga camera with polaroid back it started my interest. My first camera was a SX70 camera from ebay, and this camera changed my life forever!!!




Were you an active Polaroid photographer, and what was your favourite Polaroid camera?

No, I was no active Polaroid photographer before that, I was I Lomographer before I tasted the real fruit.




What were you thinking when you heard that Polaroid instant films are not going to be produced any more?

It was a shock, but also, after some minutes, a clear mission: it was cristal clear: this is not the end: this is the new begin-ning.




Who came to the idea about naming your project, and has the name any connection with Edwin Land?

Yes, the name is connected to the following quote by Edwin Land, who said: Dont undertake a project unless it is mani-festly important and nearly impossible. Furthermore the

name is a result from so many people/companies telling us that this venture was impossible. Well prove the opposite that it is possible to save analog instant photography.




How do people react when you tell them that you are producing new, Polaroid-like, instant film?

The one half doesnt understand it at all, the other half is very glad and supportive about it.




What is The Impossible Project?

The Impossible Project is a result of passion, luck and good coincidences. The main reason is though that Polaroid is transforming itself from an analog Instant Film Production Company to a global Consumer Electronics and Digital

Imaging company, with new high quality products for the masses. Because of this re-positioning and running out of essential components, Polaroid globally stopped the pro-duction of analog Instant Film in June 2008, closing the factories in Mexico (Instant Packfilm production) and the Netherlands

We got the last-minute chance to acquire the complete pro-duction plant in Enschede (NL) from Polaroid and engaged the most experienced team of Integral Film experts world-wide. Now we aim to re-invent and re-produce analog inte-gral film for vintage Polaroid cameras.




Why do you develop a new product instead of re-build-ing the original Polaroid integral film?

Simply because thats no longer possible. Since 1972, in-tegral film production has followed the exact same recipe, based on exactly the same components invented almost 40

years ago by Polaroid. Every single pack of Integral Instant film consists of about 20 components/parts. Some of essen-tial original components used for producing Polaroid Inte-gral film are not available any more, thats why we have to re-invent and develop new and better solutions for replac-ing/upgrading problematic/expensive components before

re-starting production.




If, how will your new film be different from the old Po-laroid film?

It will have a new, very unique character as it will be a com-plete new film, combined with the iconic characteristics of the traditional Polaroid film (like frame, format,smell,...). The first film will be a monochrome film, more flavors are to follow. And the fact that our new medium will be mon-

ochrome already shows what we are doing: developing a new analog film from the scratch. It was always the first step to start with monochrome than to switch t

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