Polaroid partners with renowned community photographers to capture the culture of skateboarding in major cities
The L‘Habitat exhibition is shining a light on the creative energy and rebellious spirit as it thrives in LA, Tokyo, etc. Open for public, Jun 20 - July 06 in Paris
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 in the Summer of 2024, this exhibition shines a light on skateboarding’s creative energy and rebellious spirit as it thrives in Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, Barcelona, and Paris. The photographs of L’Habitat are a window looking into the inner life of these environments, where skateboarders live, work, play, create, and capture lasting moments.
As much as modern life is a quest for innovation and efficiency, the most interesting events are rooted in subversion. Through skateboarding, groups of misfits autonomously interact and reshape their habitats using the structures created for work, order, and recreation in ways they were never intended. Featuring work by Alex Papke, Sirus F. Gahan, Nobuo Iseki, Cris Bravo, Margaux Saingolet, Magdalena Wosinska, and more, this project unites a worldwide collective of renowned photographers from the skate community to present their finite environments through a medium that defines the happenstance of creativity.
From restrictive signs in Tokyo to emptied pools in LA, L’Habitat offers a unique and unfiltered snapshot of the culture that shapes so many identities and is undergoing massive changes from the deluge of digital images to rampant commercialization. The show is entirely captured on Polaroid instant film, an analogue medium that preserves real- life in physician form. L’Habitat celebrates a culture of embracing the unknown, redefining city landscapes, and the personality and power of a global community going against the grain.
About Polaroid
Polaroid was founded in 1937 by Edwin Land as an icon of innovation and engineering. The company’s launch of the Polaroid Land camera in 1947, which marked the genesis of instant photography, and subsequent introduction of the breakthrough Polaroid SX-70 camera in 1972 and many others, would firmly cement Polaroid’s standing as a technological pioneer and cultural phenomenon during its peak. However, at the turn of the century, the company would be faced with new realities surrounding digital technology’s swift rise and ceased the production of instant film in 2008. But that was short-lived; a dedicated group of instant photography fans would save the last Polaroid factory in the Netherlands under the name ‘The Impossible Project,’ paving way for the eventual rebirth of the original ‘Polaroid’ brand in the years following.
Today, Polaroid is in pursuit of unlocking the beauty in everyday life with instant photography tools that empower creators across the globe to capture meaningful moments. With recent introductions like the world’s smallest instant camera, the Polaroid Go camera, and the world’s first instant camera with built-in manual controls, the Polaroid I-2 camera, the company that we have come to know and love for over 80 years is rooted back in the spirit of analog innovation for the modern age.
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