The Fotobar is a New Way to Take a “Shot”
Get ready guys, because phoneography is about to get upgraded. Majorly upgraded.
These days, we members of the smartphone generation are taking more than a billion photos with our phone… EVERY DAY. It’s easy and fun when we have all sorts of special equipment and apps to make our photos even more beautiful. But after posting photos on Path, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, our photo-sharing capabilities seem to reach a standstill. Many are often forgotten once they fall into the social network abyss.
Enter, Polaroid Fotobar. The retro snap-and-print camera manufacturer is testing a new retail concept to “unlock” your digital photos so that you can turn them into physical art prints for your walls. While we don’t think actual drinks are included at this bar (sad face), the Fotobar is Polaroid’s solution to turning your phone photos into display-worthy art.
“Experimentally” opening in ten stores across the US in 2013, Fotobar will be a place where you can upload your photos and edit them on the spot. Want to edit a photo that’s on Facebook, but no longer on your phone? No worries. You can pull photos from social media sites including Facebook, Picasa, and Instagram (we’re crossing fingers that apps like Flickr and Path will be added soon).
After uploading your photos, you’ll be asked to edit them using Polaroid’s advanced photo-editing technology. Once done editing, you can choose how you want your photos printed, mounted and displayed. By being in store, you can feel the canvas, metal or wood that you’re using to frame your photo. Unsure about how everything will look? Fotobar will be staffed with photography enthusiasts named “Phototenders” to help you with your photo ninja-ing.
As soon as you are happy with your images, they will be sent to the Polaroid manufacturing facility, then printed and shipped within 72 hours. While it would be doubly awesome to have them printed onsite (um, hello, isn’t Polaroid the “instant” photo company?), we concede it’s worth the 3-day wait for art-worthy photos. If you also want to pick up some pro camera tips, many of the Fotobars will also be used to host photo classes.
