Polaroid

@shaneboyer_ spent a day in NYC creating with the Polaroid Go, the smallest instant camera out there.   He used double exposure and self-timer mode to show a different side to the city.

Paris Men’s Fashion Week captured on Polaroid film.   Instant photography has always played a big role in fashion. Before digital came on the scene, some of the main applications for Polaroid images were during casting, fitting or for behind the scenes content.   Now it’s about creating raw authentic images that stand on their own merits and challenge he idea of perfection.   Frames 1-2: @alextrescool for @adidasy3 Frames 3-5: @jacob.consenstein Frames 6-7: @eseniyaa Frames 8-9: @jasonrenaud

“What interests me more than tricks is how people live their lives. By showing skaters in their own space that they’ve created, it’s a nice little window into their world.” For L’HABITAT, @sirusf mirrored the mood of skateboarders in London - a city that’s incredibly expensive to live in, where everything is privately owned and where space for youth culture in general is a rare good. London is one of the most challenging environments for skateboarding, but what makes it unique is its mix of genre­-spanning architecture and terrain paired with its relationship to art, culture, and sport. From football hooligans to high­ profile art galleries, a strong sense of pride and identity is an essential part of the city’s fabric. High and low, competitive and creative, historical and emerging, London’s skateboarding is more than harsh bricks and hostile architecture. “Instead of showing London’s architecture or skate spots, I thought it would be a nice interpretation to show the inside of the buildings that skaters live in. Where you live molds who you are as a person. I thought it would be more interesting to show people’s character instead of renowned spots. It’s kind of a magnifying glass on skater’s worlds.“ L’HABITAT is on display @galeriebete until July 06.

“My friends are my heroes” - in a city that constantly draws crowds of skate tourists, photographer Cris Bravo (@la_melancolia ) has chosen to stick to his closest friends to capture a more intimate side of Barcelona. Though civil engineer Ildefons Cerdà’s transformative vision for Barcelona was to create a walkable urban landscape, his creation of the Eixample not only revolution­ized the city but also created a canvas for skateboarding. With a mix of affordability, a relaxed Mediterranean lifestyle, the ability to move from the beach to the bar, and an ar­chitecture that appears to have been designed specifically for skateboard­ing, this city could be the closest to paradise on Earth for skateboarders. The allure of not needing much more than a passport and a meager budget had skate­boarders hooked. The seemingly endless supply of perfect ledges, sculptures, natural transitions, and smooth ground Barcelona offers, mixed with a vibrant plaza culture present an opportunity to not only thrive but interact with the city’s culture. Add to the mix a lack of harassment, traffic, and judgment and it’s no wonder Barcelona is a perpetual bucket list city for skateboarding. In fact, in some circles, it’s known as “the city where careers thrive as quickly as they die.” “Many times I’ve seen people arriving in the city and skating at the highest level but getting completely lost in the party scene. Barcelona is a hectic big city, and if you’re not very focused or a bit lost, the city will choose for you and eat you. It’s important to not forget what you really want.” L’HABITAT is on display @galeriebete until July 06.

“Tourists look up, skateboarders look down“ To civilians, Paris - France’s confluence of art, culture, fashion, and commerce has created and maintained the penultimate European city. Densely populated and full of visitors, Paris’ relation­ship and dynamic with skateboarding is almost counter to the romantic clichés it’s known for. The throughline to either side is the iconic Haussmann architecture that creates an unmistakable skyline and is integral to shaping the look, light, feel, and landscape of Paris’ urban areas. The shunning of the city’s tourist traps creates a subversion: While many come to Paris to seek beauty and gaze up at the marvels of modern architecture, skateboarders are pushing through alleys, going behind the landmarks, and reaching to the outskirts. As the host of the summer games, a new layer is added to a complex city, especially for locals such as @101chichi , @m8rius and @goms.indd , who are trying to navigate their day-to-day life in a city that’s under a microscope in 2024. “Using the Polaroid camera was a lesson in relearning when to shoot. I discovered the double exposure and that was the lightbulb moment for me. I wanted to capture my favorite spots in Paris by only showing the ground and then used the second exposure to add images the spot.” - Yann Garin L’HABITAT is on display @galeriebete until July 06.

“In Tokyo, skateboarding in the streets during the daytime is difficult because you only have a few tries before security show up. You need to be quick, but that sense of danger created a very own style.” As part of L’HABITAT, @nobuo_iseki , @azusa25nigo , @laurencekeefe and @naoya_morohashi captured the spirit of risk vs. rewards that shapes skate culture of Tokyo on Polaroid film.   Partly due to the grab-and-go nature created by the restrictions and also a product of the tight physical space in the streets, the nature of skateboarding style in Tokyo is often defined as quick. Quick flicks, quick moves, and quick hits create a sense of urgency that sharply contrasts other cities across the world. Not only does engaging with well-guarded spots drive the aesthetic, but being driven to skate at night creates a relationship with light that is seldom seen anywhere else.   “In Tokyo people are very thoughtful about details - restaurants are so clean, the streets are safe, the housing all about perfection and in balance with nature. For many skateboarding is not only too loud, it’s disrupting the order and damaging the details they care about so much.“ L’HABITAT is on display at @galeriebete until July 06.

No city in the world encapsulates the dynamics of skateboarding more than Los Angeles. For L’HABITAT, photographer @alex_papke gives a first-hand view of his environment, captured on #PolaroidI2 . Known for its sunny weather, LA once faced a flooding problem, leading to the creation of a city-wide drainage system that produced an abundance of ditch­es and embankments. These concrete waves offered a one-to-one challenge that sparked a creative movement that changed the world. As much as urban planning created new surfaces to skate, a historic drought in the ‘70s led to empty backyard swimming pools that offered a brand new landscape, proving that obstacles could be opportunities for innovation. Along with images of the world’s most famous skate spots and architecture, Alex captured the personalities who define LA skate culture. “Whether it’s shooting portraits or spots or random things in my neighborhood, the cool thing about documenting the city this way is that it’s opening up new perspectives to your surroundings. It’s a feeling more than a photo in a sense because the images feel dreamlike. In a way, what you don’t capture in the frame becomes part of the image, because it does something to your imagination.”

“L’HABITAT” is a first-hand view of the major cities that shape the culture of skateboarding. As the mainstream focuses on what’s happening in the arenas this Summer, this exhibition in Paris shines a light on skateboarding’s creative energy and rebellious spirit as it thrives in Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, Barcelona, and Paris. Entirely captured on Polaroid film, the L’Habitat photographs are a window looking into the inner life of these environments. The exhibition is open Monday-Saturday, 11:00-19:00 at @galeriebete from June 20 to July 06. Watch this space as we’ll dive into each of the cities in the coming days. feat. photographs of Alex Papke // @alex_papke Nobuo Iseki // @nobuo_iseki Sirus F Gahan // @sirusf Cris Bravo // @la_melancolia Magdalena Wosinska // @magdawosinskastudio Margaux Saingolet // @goms.indd Marius Chanut // @m8rius Yann Garin // @101chichi Laurence Keefe // @laurencekeefe Azusa Adachi // @azusa25nigo Naoya Morohashi // @naoya_morohashi

Lin Zhipeng (@finger223 ) is a photographer and writer based in Beijing. Lin’s work has come to reflect the spirit of the post-80’s and 90’s generation of non-mainstream Chinese youth.    Lin used the Polaroid Now+ to capture real life’s unintentional beauty through Dali City in the Yunnan Province, in the southwestern part of China, during the cherry blossom season in March.    “Analog photography is fascinating, unpredictable, and full of unknowns, just like every second of our lives. The scenes depicted in my work were all captured in the moment, such as the wildflowers picked during mountain hikes, the dams encountered while trekking along the stream, and the sunlight streaming through the windows during gatherings. The process of shooting was without expectations, and every encounter became the best condition.” #CaptureRealLife

Sometimes, the creative process ends with taking a Polaroid photo and sometimes, it’s just the beginning.   @cashtuesday uses mixed media elements to highlight and warp certain elements of a photo:   “Having a physical image produced nearly instantly opens up some interesting possibilities with my photography.   For these images, the physical photos were the starting point to an entirely new idea.   The addition of bubble wrap highlights the precious nature of these images while contextualising them within the real world.”

Polaroid photography has always been a part of fashion photography. At one time it was mainly used for checking light. @sophiajcarey used it for the same purpose in her @schonmagazine shoot. But, she explains why the format still finds its way into editorial pieces: “In my experience, working on concept-rich projects allows you to push that boundary and explore mediums that are more experimental.   Even when aiming for that “perfect” look, I think using grittier more organic mediums can introduce a juxtaposition that works well when exploring fashion photography.” Credits: Photographer - Sophia Carey - @sophiajcarey Stylist - Maheen Malik - @dontbebasik Model - Pape Makhtar Thiam - @fadmodels @poukou_toukou

Summer means longer days, vibrant colors and brighter light - ideal conditions for Polaroid film. A perfect excuse to add 8 extra pops of color. @christian__hill used the frames to capture the kitschy side of Palm Springs.