Polaroid

Meet Chia Shih Chia Shih wasn’t sure about the field of mechanical engineering, but after graduating high school with high grades, he decided to give it a go. He’d always enjoyed subjects like maths and physics, but it wasn’t until he started working on physical products that he uncovered a new-found sense of accomplishment – the joy that comes from being able to hold in your hand a physical product that you helped to design and create. At Polaroid, he’s been the lead mechanical designer for our NOW range and the I-2, and he sees his role in helping to bring them from concept to reality as a very real and tangible source of achievement. Currently, Chia Shih is the project lead for our next generation products and he’s looking forward to continuing to grow along with the company. Chia Shih loves to spend time with his family and one of their favorite activities is building Lego sets together. One of the most memorable is the “Polaroid OneStepSX-70 Camera,” which was a gift from a company party. Watching his son building a camera is a magical moment for Chia Shih. Having assembled more than his fair share of Polaroid cameras at work, seeing his son building his own – albeit in Lego form – is a very special feeling. He also loves travelling, especially to Japan. For him, going to places where he can’t understand the language means he can focus on what’s important – sharing that experience with his family without any risk of distraction.

Meet Irene In November, Irene will celebrate ten years with Polaroid. With a background in transport and logistics followed by a stint at an events company, she was looking for her next challenge when she spied at an intriguing business with the name of the Impossible Project – now Polaroid. This sparked her curiosity and led to her landing a role in credit and debtor management. Always keen on the next opportunity, she quickly realised the open culture coupled with Polaroid’s growth meant she could grow too. She’s now a Finance Controller and soon will finish her Bachelor in Finance. Chasing challenges is in Irene’s blood. She’s just completed a mud run and she’s even participated in the half marathon in Enschede, but her real passion is climbing. While her regular routine has her visiting her local climbing gym twice a week, that’s clearly not enough – together with her partner she’s scaled Mont Blanc, tackled a mixture of ice and rock in Scotland, and has even climbed frozen waterfalls in Norway. Next to climbing would be her love of music, but with her favourite track being ‘Reach for the Sky’ by Social Distortion, we think we might see some overlap...

We’re excited to announce that the work of 10 emerging photographers, selected from over 2,000 submissions through the ‘Real Life is Not Black and White’ open call with Magnum, will be showcased at Paris Photo Fair from November 7-10, 2024.   Visit us at Booth P06 to explore the fantastic empathy-driven stories from around the world. Join the public talk on Saturday at 3 PM with Enri Canaj and some of the open call winners, and get your portrait taken with a Polaroid-I2 at our photo studio run by Harriet Browse and Rayan Nohra. Magnum Photos

Polaroid.com has got a brand new look.   We're proud to announce the launch of our new website with enhanced features and a fresh look.    What's new: New membership program: Enjoy exclusive benefits and rewards for members. Film subscription: Never run out of your favorite Polaroid film.  Gear guide: Discover and select products effortlessly with our new intuitive tool.   Visit us at https://www.polaroid.com/ to explore the new site and let us know what you think. 

Magnum Photos and Polaroid are thrilled to announce the 10 winners of our "Real Life is Not Black and White" open call. We received 2,101 submissions from over 100 countries across 6 continents, with participants ranging in age from 18 to 82 years. Jed Bacason: Philippines / UAE Jed Bacason’s project will focus on candid portraits and personal stories of the migrant workers in Dubai. Mengwen Cao: China / USA "IDareU2Feel Radio" reveals the inner world of a queer Chinese immigrant navigating life in America through experimental self-portraits. Jaír F. Coll: Colombia Jaír F. Coll will continue to follow Samara, a girl with Zika-related microcephaly in Cali, Colombia. Natela Grigalashvili: Georgia Natela Grigalashvili’s photo-project will explore the realities and landscapes of three mono-industrial towns in Georgia—Chiatura, Tkibuli, and Zestaponi. Mohamed Hassan: Egypt/UK As an Egyptian in Wales, Mohamed Hassan is embarking on a road trip to capture the rich diversity of Wales' people, aiming to promote unity in response to rising hostility towards Muslims in the UK. Aleruchi Kinika: Nigeria Aleruchi Kinika will continue her project exploring the complexities of womanhood, by capturing moments of motherhood, friendship, and kindness. Stefan Pavić: Serbia For this project, Stefan Pavić will capture the everyday lives of young Kosovo Serbs and Albanians, highlighting stories that transcend conflict and showcase resilience. Jakub Stanek: Poland Jakub Stanek’s project will use a Polaroid camera as a key tool to document the everyday life of a father and son. D. M. Terblanche: South Africa D. M. Terblanche will draw from their own experience in a narrative documentary project that explores the internal world of living with late-diagnosed autism. Maria Beatriz de Vilhena: Portugal Maria Beatriz de Vilhena is working on a project about identity, memory, and the geography in between, using the Spanish-Portuguese border and rural, pagan inspiration as backdrops. The winners will receive mentoring from Magnum photographers Jim Goldberg, Newsha Tavakolian and Enri Canaj and a Polaroid I-2 Instant Camera + film bundle. Stay tuned to see the winners' projects! #MagnumLearn #Polaroid #PolaroidI2 Image by Newsha Tavakolian / Magnum Photos

Meet Johnson   Johnson just can’t get enough of Polaroid. In 2022 he tried to leave us, but only a year later, he was back! Though he started his career with us at our branch in Taiwan, Johnson’s now working as a Project Lead out of our Amsterdam office. Since being in Europe, he’s definitely caught the travel bug. His work has brought him to Poland and twice to Sweden, and his private adventures have taken him to France and Germany too.   Johnson is used to a very active lifestyle – weightlifting, martial arts, kickboxing and bouldering are some of the activities he looks forward to getting back to once the broken bone in his hand is fully healed. When not working up a sweat, he likes to work up his appetite in the kitchen, trying his hand at any interesting dish he’s come into contact with and seeing if he can replicate it himself. His latest mission? Mastering the art of baking. 

Meet Johnson   Johnson just can’t get enough of Polaroid. In 2022 he tried to leave us, but only a year later, he was back! Though he started his career with us at our branch in Taiwan, Johnson’s now working as a Project Lead out of our Amsterdam office. Since being in Europe, he’s definitely caught the travel bug. His work has brought him to Poland and twice to Sweden, and his private adventures have taken him to France and Germany too.   Johnson is used to a very active lifestyle – weightlifting, martial arts, kickboxing and bouldering are some of the activities he looks forward to getting back to once the broken bone in his hand is fully healed. When not working up a sweat, he likes to work up his appetite in the kitchen, trying his hand at any interesting dish he’s come into contact with and seeing if he can replicate it himself. His latest mission? Mastering the art of baking. 

Meet Alex Alex has been working as an iOS developer here at Polaroid for a little over two years. Back at university, he found that his course in computer science wasn’t quite moving as quickly as he would’ve liked, so he turbocharged himself by reading books and watching tutorials. Fast forward and Alex is now working on improving our apps – his favorite project thus far has been pimping out the Polaroid iOS app with photo editing tools. He also codes in his spare time too – and not just coding, he’s a jack-of-all-trades who designed, developed, tested and published his own app for tracking finances. He couldn’t find one that suited his needs, so he just made one instead. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/e7bMNrgE When not behind a screen, Alex loves to skateboard. At least three nights a week he’s outdoors skateboarding through the streets. Despite being able to clear 12 stairsteps at a time on his skateboard, he still claims that most of the time he’s just trying to avoid breaking any bones. 

Meet Seetha In 2022, Seetha decided it was time to shake things up. She’d always dreamed of living abroad, yet despite her extremely supportive parents, it was only after many loving assurances from her sisters that she finally took the plunge. Originally from Kerala, she was working in Bengaluru in Karnataka when she decided to swap southern India for northern Europe and moved to the Netherlands – without ever having set foot in the country beforehand! At first she was struck by the difference in culture, in particular office and working culture, but she’s since become enamored with this beautiful little country. Though Seetha has only been with Polaroid for less than a year, she’s got more than a decade of Android experience under her belt. She loves the fact it’s open source as well as the freedom she has to create on the platform – seeing something she’s built out in the real world and being used by the public still gives her kicks to this day. When feeling less adventurous, Seetha likes to read or binge thriller crime shows on Netflix. When feeling more adventurous, she loves a good solo trip. Her favorite destination to date is Manali in northern India, with scenery to die for and the best paneer cheese she’s ever tasted.  

For the first time ever, Magnum Photos and Polaroid have partnered to elevate instant photography through the eyes of photographic storytellers. The partnership features the photographic approach and craft of Jim Goldberg, Newsha Tavakolian and Enri Canaj, 3 renowned Magnum photographers known for their deep, empathetic storytelling and commitment to capturing real life in all its complexity. Together, we’re also launching an Open Call to discover new photographic storytellers who prefer real experiences, mistakes and authenticity over the often futile search for perfection. The open call invites all photographers worldwide to submit their photography portfolio (digital, analogue or Polaroid photography) and an idea for an empathy inspired story. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/enuwnr9B Open from July 15 until August 12, 2024.