1Hundred Impossible Portraits - A summary

It has been one week since my 1Hundred Impossible Portraits event at Aperture, and I think I have finally gotten most everything in order. I figured this would be a good time to put together a little write up of the event, and let everyone know about some of the fun things that are coming soon.

The goal of the event was to shoot 100 portraits in one night, and do it all on an original Polaroid SX-70. Of course, since Polaroid no longer makes film, everything was done with The Impossible Project's PX 70 Color Shade Push! which I have posted about many times in the past few months.

Needless to say, the event itself was a huge success. In fact, with more than 250 people showing up, I ended up shooting about 120 portraits instead of 100. (All the photos featured in this summary will be from those extra portraits, as I'd like to save the original 100 for the official launch of the website.)

It was really a great time meeting all the different people who came through the store that night. As part of the event, each person also filled out a small info card, something like a personalized mad-lib, which will hang with their portrait in the gallery over the next month. Not only will you get to see each persons photo, but you'll get to learn their occupation, inspiration and something they would like to accomplish with their life.

(image courtesy of Shelley Turk)

Up next for the 1Hundred Impossible Portraits will be the launch of a full interactive website. The site will feature all 100 photos, the personal bios, a link to the behind the scenes video of the night and the ability to order a book (which will feature all 122 photos). Look for that official launch to happen early next week.

Of course, I also want to take this chance to thank everyone who helped make this event possible. All of the sponsors (Aperture, Uppercut, & FoodGazi), the friends and family who helped keep the night in order, the guys running the video cameras, the band, and of course all the people who came out in support of instant photography.

I hope this little taste of the event is enough to satisfy for just a few more days, as I know many people have been chomping at the bit to get their hands on these photos. Also, look forward to a post in the near future on the details of shooting these portraits... light shading techniques, camera settings, and a new way of applying heat to photos throughout the development process and what kind of difference it makes.

So, enjoy the photos and don't forget to check back for the official launch of the website, video and book early next week. Thanks everyone.