The Observer Review's Polaroid Project

Rankin: Since launching style magazine Dazed and Confused with Jefferson Hack in 1991, Rankin has become a globally successful photographer, publisher and film director. 'With Polaroids it's like I can see someone between the shots – in this case Gordon Brown is friendly, then intense, then relaxed. We had a chat before starting; he was easygoing and natural. The shot of him on the chair, for instance, I could have made him look bad, but he didn't seem to care. He had no vanity whatsoever. He had a great way about him and a great smile, which is not what you're led to believe from the press and most photographs. Polaroids are kind of soft. They're a record of a certain moment which you can't take back or wipe out like digital. You find you get something brilliant by accident, they're a laugh in a way that digital photographs aren't. I used Polaroid as a test on fashion shoots until two years ago. I loved the format, but there's no use for it any more, sadly.'
Photograph: © Rankin

One of Britain’s most internationally renowned photographers, Lord Snowdon began his career in 1951 as an apprentice and went on to become a photographer for the Sunday Times, Vogue and the Telegraph magazine among others. He has photographed everything from fashion models to urban life, but is probably best known for his portraits of celebrities and royalty. 'This rocking horse belonged to my great grandfather and I decided to put it out in the garden and photograph my [one-year-old] grandson Rex on it. He's such a good age to photograph and I just thought it was rather a nice background. I only took one or two practice shots. I've used Polaroid forever, since it first started, we all did, and I don’t know what one would have done without it and its immediacy. I think it's very sad that this could be the end of Polaroid, I don't know what we're going to do without it. I keep all my Polaroids in a book now, it's great fun to look back.'
Photograph: © Lord Snowdon

Tom Hunter is an award-winning photographic artist. He has exhibited internationally and in 2005 became the first photographer to have a one-man show at the National Gallery with a series inspired by old master paintings. 'I took these shots of my friends on the spur of the moment. I was at a wedding in Sicily and wanted to capture the atmosphere of being on holiday. The colour of the sunset behind the girl and the way the chemicals react to the sky is incredible. It never would have looked like that on digital. You have a whole new palette of colours with Polaroid. Its death is a huge loss. Digital upsets me. I find it very dull. it’s so clinical, all about bar codes and mathematics. Photography is about magic. With Polaroid it takes 15-20 seconds for the magic to happen, before the faces stare back at you. Each image becomes like a work of art to treasure. It’s also a great way of connecting with people – of sharing a moment.'
Photograph: © Tom Hunter

Martin Parr is renowned for his humorous, sometimes critical documentary style. His work has been shown worldwide and he has published many books. 'My last Polaroid is of my mother's first adventure on Skype. My wife is Skyping her brother in New Zealand – it's almost unbelievable to my mother, as Polaroid once was. The other is of Nick Campion, a friend who's an astrologer, he's arriving for dinner with his broken ankle. It's funny he didn't predict the fall. Twenty years ago I used Polaroids regularly. The colour rendition was really bad but that was part of the charm, that throwaway feel. My abiding image is of people walking around with Polaroids in their armpits, supposedly to make the image develop more quickly. I don't think it worked.'
Photograph: © Martin Parr/Magnum Photos

An acclaimed portrait photographer, Harry Borden has more than 100 examples of his work in London's National Portrait Gallery collection and in 2005 had his first solo show there. 'I'm evangelical about digital so I was quite trepidatious about using a Polaroid camera, I've never really used one much. I did bear in mind the crudeness and simplicity of the medium when I was shooting but I found it a joyous experience. I spent the weekend capturing my three kids and my daughter's friend in the pool at my neighbour's party. They absolutely loved it. Polly, the blonde girl who is my eldest, kept asking if we could retouch the pictures, she wants to be a photographer and has only inhabited a digital world so for her it was quite strange because she didn't know about film.'
Photograph: © Harry Borden

The first child of Paul and Linda McCartney, Mary became a professional photographer in 1995 and has shot campaigns for clients including her sister, fashion designer Stella. 'I first took a picture of Stella like this 15 years ago. I love this thing she does where she puts her hands around her eyes and looks like an owl, so we decided to recreate it on my Polaroid Land camera. It's nice to capture striking shapes on Polaroid because you can't see detail. I shot one of Stella's first ad campaigns on Polaroid, with Kate Moss in a wicker chair. When I was a kid, digital photography wasn't around, but because my mum was a photographer we'd go on holiday and take Polaroids of the kids and get them to watch the image appearing before their eyes. We went through a phase of drawing on them, putting moustaches on. I love that Polaroid shots are one-offs. I can't quite accept that this is the end of Polaroid, that all of those beautiful cameras will be obsolete.'
Photograph: © Mary McCartney

Sam Taylor-Wood is a Turner prize nominated artist, photographer and filmmaker based in London. Her work, including a video portrait of footballer David Beckham sleeping, has been exhibited internationally. Nowhere Boy, her forthcoming John Lennon biopic which stars her boyfriend, newcomer Aaron Johnson, will close the London film festival in October. 'I love Polaroid for its unique quality and, although it is as instant as digital, its magic is unsurpassable. Mapplethorpe's book of Polaroids is one that I love and I have a Polaroid SX-70 camera which I have done whole shoots on. Polaroid is great for portraiture which is why I chose to shoot Aaron and with the light that Polaroid blesses. The double portrait of us is also what Polaroid lends itself to: the immediacy of an intimate moment, which is why some Polaroid pictures are locked away.'
Photograph: © Sam Taylor-Wood

An award-winning American photographer renowned for her confessional style, Nan Goldin was introduced to photography at the age of 15 by a high school teacher who, having received a grant from Polaroid, passed out instant cameras to her students and sparked Goldin's lifelong love of Polaroid. Her 1980s masterwork, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, established her as a major talent and since then her work has been exhibited worldwide. These Polaroids capture her cat Gaya and a porcupine and zebra from her extensive collection of antiques and relics in the Parisian apartment where she has been working on her next show, opening in Berlin next month.
Photograph: © Nan Goldin

Nan Goldin's Owl Polaroid
Photograph: © Nan Goldin