All images by Lorenzo Papadia. Used with permission.
Lovers of instant photography, particularly the retro-hued images revealed by Polaroid film, find it a particularly striking and an effective medium for emotional, visual stories despite the imperfections. Among these is Italian photographer Lorenzo Papadia, who is also the latest to share with us his dreamy Polaroid project titled Fade Point.
Instead of lamenting the faded look of the images taken using his Polaroid SX-70, Lorenzo found inspiration through it. Snapped in one of the beach towns of  Salento in Southern Italy, Fade Point explores the idea of a “point of disappearance” through the unique imagery created most likely by expired Polaroid films.
“This is because I believe in the strong evanescence of things, beyond the appearance of which everything ceases to be ‘true’,” Lorenzo tells of his work. Whether everything is fading into nothingness from the point of view or memory of the photographer or the viewer, we’ll let you decide.
Lorenzo is fond of shooting common objects, indoor environments, and urban locations, and finds that architectural elements and colors are often full of mystery and secrecy. He attempts to demonstrate this through the subject matter and palette of Fade Point. “As you can see there are pictures in which all the architecture (man-made) and the colors dominate the scene. The sea, almost always is the background, recalling the flow of thoughts in a dreamlike manner.”
More than just the mood created by these images, Lorenzo also wants to share his insights on why imperfections of photographic mediums like Polaroid still matter.
“In the digital age we are all obsessed by the high fidelity of the image, the so-called ‘quality’. I believe photography should be lacking in the perfection of its materiality. I think instant photography today may turn away from this ‘surplus visibility,’ providing us a more poetic view as it envelopes the concept in a veil of mystery and secrecy.”
Visit Lorenzo Papadia’s Instagram, Phinest portfolio, and Galerie Sakura page to see more of his photography.
