Catch Me If You Can

Instant cameras have come back into vogue for a relatively long time. In fact, it is they who truly reveal the essence of photographic art - to catch the right moment without being able to correct the light and angle, remove or somehow alter the result. In one second, during which the shutter is lowered, there should be harmony between the photographer and everything that happens around. Voila - the result is already in your hands. A picture in the familiar, "Polaroid" white frame will now warm the soul alive, and not flicker with soulless pixels on the smartphone screen.

Today, instant photography is attracting more and more attention and has already occupied a worthy niche in design, scrapbooking and crafting. Success in any skill requires not only constant practice, but also a clear understanding of who to look up to and whose work is worth following. In this article, we'll highlight three Russian instant photographers who masterfully create incredible beauty in just a second.

(Total 22 photos)

Tatyana Blinova

Photo posted by Russia/France/USA/Ecuador (@tati.s.titch) Jan 18, 2016 at 3:46 PST

Photo posted by Russia/France/USA/Ecuador (@tati.s.titch) Jan 18 2016 at 03:46 PST

Photo posted by Russia/France/USA/Ecuador (@tati.s.titch) Mar 3, 2016 at 7:03 PST

For Tatyana, analog photography is true love and the main heartache. The photographer travels a lot around the world and, choosing his own Instax shots, always remains in harmony with his own inner “photographic bore”. Of the thousands of photographs taken, a little more than a hundred shots withstood a strict trial.

Tatyana never throws out cards that for various reasons did not pass the selection. For a girl, they are valuable, because later they become a source of inspiration and help to make new discoveries in the art of collage. Each photo is a subject of research and, at the same time, the source material for creating completely different works of art.

Photo posted by Russia/France/USA/Ecuador (@tati.s.titch) Feb 3, 2016 at 6:53 pm PST

Photo posted by Russia/France/USA/Ecuador (@tati.s.titch) Mar 20, 2016 at 11:10 PDT

Photo posted by Russia/France/USA/Ecuador (@tati.s.titch) Jan 3, 2016 at 11:20 AM PST

Often Tatyana combines her own analog photos with monumental works of art.

Photo posted by Russia/France/USA/Ecuador (@tati.s.titch) Jan 29, 2016 at 5:42 PST

For a long time, Tatyana literally dedicated her own collages to Moscow. In a project called #YOUBETOO, the photographer “fitted” the cards into the context of urban landscapes.

Photo posted by Russia/France/USA/Ecuador (@tati.s.titch) Dec 29, 2015 at 10:39 PST

Photo posted by Russia/France/USA/Ecuador (@tati.s.titch) Apr 9, 2016 at 8:26 PDT

Alena Chandler

Alena Chandler is a fashion photographer, one of the founders of the Central Park Mag project. The project is conducted jointly with Alexey Kalabin. The online magazine appeared when the girl began to use the Instax instant camera as one of the main media tools.

“The snapshots inspired us a lot, as this is a photograph of the here and now and the captured moment will never be repeated,” says Alena.

The key event for the Central Park Mag project was the launch of Interview Russia magazine. The Interview edition, created at the time by Andy Warhol and closely associated with instant photography, invited photographers to take photographs of the guests of the event on the occasion of the opening of the magazine in Russia. “We liked the result of shooting on Instax, and we continued to shoot at the main events of fashionable Moscow and photograph important guests of the capital,” says Alena.

Today, for many publications, snapshots from Alena are a kind of tradition.

Pavel Kondratiev

Pavel started shooting in 2005, when photography was just a hobby. At some point, Kondratiev developed a real passion for photography, and he was sure that photojournalism was his life's work. Pavel asked for an assistant to a famous photographer and worked with him for a long time. For Kondratiev, music has always been a source of inspiration, it is them, his favorite musicians, that Pavel likes to shoot the most. He never studied the art of photography in specialized schools - now he does not regret it and is sure that this is most likely just a waste of time, because no one has canceled self-development.

Pavel Kondratiev uses Instax wide 300, wide 210 and mini 25. The first two models are wide-format cameras: the picture is twice the size of a regular photo card - 86 by 108 mm. Now Pavel is making documentaries about Russia and its people, as well as about Germany and European subcultures. This year he was officially invited by the world's largest gothic festival and allowed to shoot.

The photographer takes Instax with him everywhere: “My camera is always there. I try to capture special moments on Instax, it’s always more pleasant to hold a picture in your hands than to watch it on a gadget, and most importantly, you can give a photo card as a gift.” These and other pictures of Pavel can be viewed on his instagram.

For more ideas for instant photography look at instaxmini.ru.