Pdexposures Photography

I listen to the Adam Carolla show pretty regularly. I've been a fan of his since I was a 13 year old who watched bits and pieces of The Man Show when I could (I wasn't allowed to normally). But one of my personal favorite parts of listening are his theories. Some of them are crazy, he will even admit it. But there is one that I am particularly a fan of that he typically applies to celebrities and when they hit their peak. Today, we are going to apply it to The Impossible Project.

The theory goes that if you take two people, there will be a point in their lives where if the stars align they could spend one magical night together. One example comes to mind, Joe Rogan had a crush on a certain celebrity growing up. It may have been Daisy Duke I'm not entirely sure. As Joe Rogan was rising as a comedian through the late 80s, Daisy was on the downside. Being set on the backburner and booking gigs that consisted of charging $20 to take your photo with her. Had it been 5 years earlier, Joe Rogan would have been a nobody and Daisy would have still been relevant. The magical night wouldn't have happened if they ran into each other no matter how hard Mr. Rogan tried. Daisy would be just too important. Yet if it were 5 years later, the roles would have flipped and Rogan would have been too famous, Daisy would have let herself go a little more. And once again the moment would be lost. It comes down to that one sweet spot, or as Adam Carolla calls it, the center of the "X".

I've been contemplating this for some time now about instant film. When we would see this transition between The Impossible Project and Polaroid. Polaroid film was only getting worse as it expired, and Impossible was only getting better as they put more time into their formulas. When would they meet?

I feel as though that time has come. Impossibles latest film release, their "Cool" shades of film are miles ahead of anything we have seen thus far. And that's an impressive feat! Considering their 12/11 batch of PX70 was outstanding! Just look at the NIGO images I posted a few weeks back. But it wasn't until I saw two images of Dylan Boyds (flickr can be found by clicking here) that to me it finally put the nail in the coffin.

I have been noticing for sometime, that my remaining Polaroid stock of films has been deteriorating rather quickly. Even the latest batches that expired 09/09 aren't looking anywhere near as good as they used to. Dylan's images sealed that. They are two images, same subject, same lighting, and yet one is far superior to the other. Surprise surprise, it is the Impossible photograph by miles. Now I am not sure of the exp. date of the Polaroid film, it could be 2001 (yes I have had film that old work) nor do we know how it was stored. What we do know is that the strides that Impossible has made over the last 3 years are nothing short of amazing.

I am reminded of all the naysayers when Impossible started out

     "this stuff is overpriced trash"
     "why can't they just use Polaroids formula?"
     "who would ever buy their film!?"

I wish I could say I had been shooting from the beginning. I haven't, close to it though. So for me, seeing Impossible reach this milestone makes me proud. Even though I had nothing to do with their achievements, it feels go to know that I was there... for most of the way at least. When they crossed the "X".


Dylans two images I referenced can be found by clicking the links below.


Impossible PX70 COOL photograph
Polaroid 600 expired film photograph