Category: Consumer

Tell their stories with instax

by gg May 2, 2021 Comments0

“Sometimes as humans, it’s really hard to communicate the feelings we have inside and it’s easier to express them in a creative way.”

Héctor Bellerín 

Save the Children’s Coaching For Life programme and The Arsenal Foundation have documented the lives of young Syrian refugees living in Za’atari Refugee Camp (Syria) with the power of instax. Fronted by renowned photographer Pixie Levinson and Arsenal soccer player Héctor Bellerín – a passionate photographer – the project saw donated instax SQ1 SQUARE cameras given to Syrian refugee children to tell their own stories through the camera lens to help the children express themselves through the creative medium.

Yara is 17 years old and fled her home in Syria eight years ago: “I felt lost, unsafe and sad leaving my homeland. I have left everything beautiful behind and I miss my friends and family. The most difficult thing about living in Za’atari is feeling alienated, but football and photography have helped me feel less alone. Coaching for Life has taught me patience and teamwork. I love making decisions as a team – we are one soul. Also, the photography project has allowed me to express myself – the photograph I took of the flower represents my hope for the future, because every time the flower falls it springs up again. One day, I hope to become a journalist to show people the authentic stories behind the news.”

At the end of the project, Héctor and Pixie curated a collection of their favourite instax prints, like Yara’s, to mark ten years since the war in Syria began on 15th March 2011.

To find out more about this life-changing programme and help build a better future for children, visit https://stories.savethechildren.org.uk/coaching-for-life/

Filed under blog Consumer

instaXmas – Get closer to your loved ones with instax

by Fujifilm EMEA December 12, 2020 Comments0

2020 has been and still is a particular year to all of us. Now that we are facing Christmas time we all are asked to find new ways of celebrating togetherness while keeping our loved ones safe through distancing. Our instaXmas DIYs can help you to be close to family and friends during December – even in those times of social distancing. Have yourself a festive Advent Season and “instax” your Christmas.

Many thanks to instax UK for the inspiration and the shots! Check out their instax Blog to get even more inspirational instax DIY ideas.

INSTAX BAUBLES
What you’ll need:
-Clear DIY 100mm baubles
-Festive string
-Scissors
-instax prints
-Shredded paper/tinsel

The DIY baubles need to measure 100mm or your instax prints won’t fit.

Gently open a bauble and place your instax print in one half and fill the other half with shredded paper/tinsel and then carefully fit the bauble back together. This may take a few attempts, to ensure that none of the paper or tinsel hangs out or obstructs your instax print, but we know you’ll be pleased with the results! Once slotted together, thread some festive string through the whole in the top. Check the string length for hanging and once you’ve got your desired length tie a knot.

INSTANT HANGERS
What you’ll need:
-Festive string
-Hole punch, or needle
-Scissors
-instax prints

If you don’t fancy trapping your instax prints in baubles then why not simply let them hang free? Using the instax SHARE app, print your favourite pictures upside down so that the wider white area is at the top of your image. Use a hole punch to make a hole in the widest part, or if you’d prefer a smaller hole, carefully use a needle.

Important – never punch a hole into undeveloped film as the chemicals sit inside the wide white part of the film and will be harmful to your skin! If you don’t want to punch a hole, you can print as normal and stick the instax print to a piece of card and punch the hole in the card instead.

Thread through your string, tie a knot then get decorating. We definitely recommend this idea for your office Christmas tree, especially if you have shots from any Christmas jumper days!

CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS
Who says you’re too old for a stocking? Not us! These personalised stockings can make a great gift bag alternative or make yourself one (and hope it gets filled!).

What you’ll need:
-Christmas stocking
-Glue gun or craft glue
-Scissors
-Crafty extras of your choice

Print off your instax pictures of yourself if the stocking’s for you, the person you’re gifting it to or a festive-themed image.

Place your pictures on the stocking to lay out the design – we advise doing this before you glue anything down so you can see what everything looks like. Arrange your crafty bits and then when you’re happy with your layout, get gluing! Take care as glue guns get hot. Make sure to let your design dry before you fill or hang your stocking.

We wish you a festive Advent Season and creative time together with beautiful pictures to share with your loved ones.

Filed under blog Consumer Tutorials

New European Wonder Photo Shop

by Fujifilm EMEA November 11, 2020 Comments0

What a start for autumn 2020: Not only did we have the pleasure of opening the new Wonder Photo Shop in Berlin but also to launch our new instax SQUARE SQ1 exactly there, in the heart of Berlin’s Ku’damm.

Wonder Photo Shop – that is Fujifilm’s worldwide concept for a store that offers space for its guests to print their own pictures and worship those memories on paper by being creative – with every possibility of being arty in one place.

Here you can buy the whole instax range from cameras to pictures. Or print your digitised smartphone or camera pictures directly in store and – in a next step – get creative and work on scrap books and presents for yourself or your beloved ones.

Gerd-Peter Huber (Fotocenter Berlin) who has made this new store possible by working in cooperation with Fujifilm said:

“People of every age appreciate to save their memories on paper and prepare creative art works to share with their beloved. Berlin as a center of art and culture, not only in Germany but all over Europe, is a perfect spot to enable people to live according to their needs of creativity. Additionally, the instant picture product range of instax enables young and old to experience a moment of self-empowerment by taking a picture and directly being able to watch and share the moment’s result with the help of instax photos. We believe that especially when people are facing a crisis – like the whole world is doing this year – creativity can be a possibility of processing. This is why we are very happy to open the “Fotocenter Berlin – Wonder Photo Shop” at Ku’damm this autumn.”

During September, one of the first big events of the new store took place. Though COVID-19 changed a lot of plans, the German Fujifilm instax team made the launch of its latest instax square product possible: this year’s autumn is an instax SQUARE SQ 1 autumn. There might be cold and rainy days coming in Europe, but the new instax SQ1 will be able to offer some distraction with the help of its reduced and very simple design and an only analogue system. The popular selfie mirror for easy handling of one’s own portraits will enable every instax fan, whether in the outdoors or in quarantine “at home”, to keep going and creating his or her own protocol of autumn experiences.

Thank you to our instax Germany team from Fujifilm Imaging Systems, who have kindly shared these insights with us. To learn more about the world of instax, visit their homepage (in German). For our readers outside of Germany, please visit our European presence.

Filed under blog Consumer

Halloween DIY: Have Fun While Staying Safe

by em October 30, 2020 Comments0

Many thanks to instax UK for the inspiration and the shots! Check out their instax Blog to get even more inspirational instax DIY ideas.

Some Halloween traditions may look different this year, but it can still be a lot of fun. Celebrate the spookiest time of year safely with your family at home and make sure the only thing to be scared of is the costumes. Make it safe, keep it fun!
Here are some quick and easy tips to add a fun, creative edge using instax prints! Take the chance for you and the members of your household to get creative, and maybe even invent some new traditions for your family!

Toffee Apple Treat Tags

What you need:

  • 6 apples
  • 350g sugar (golden caster sugar or brown sugar)
  • 100ml water
  • 35g butter
  • 2tsp white vinegar
  • 2tbsp golden syrup
  • Baking paper
  • Wooden toffee apple sticks/lollipop sticks
  • Clear film or bagsSugar thermometer (optional)
  • Ribbon
  • Scissors
  • Hole punch

How to create:

Clean your apples and dry them thoroughly.
Twist off each stalk and push a wooden stick into the stalk end of each apple.
Cut a piece of baking paper big enough for all the apples with generous space between them.
Put the sugar and water into a pan on a medium heat. Cook until the sugar has dissolved and then stir in the butter, vinegar and golden syrup.
TIP: If you have a sugar thermometer boil to around 120°C, or test the toffee by spooning a small amount into a bowl of cold water. If it’s ready it will ball up and harden; if it’s not, it will break up.
When it’s ready, turn off the heat.

Now you need to work quickly. Dip each apple into the toffee. Make sure it’s covered before taking it out – let any excess toffee drip off back into the pan. Place it on the baking paper to dry.
The apples should take around 15 minutes to fully dry, then it’s time to get wrapping and gift tagging.

Turn on your instax  Printer and connect your camera using the instax SHARE app.
Select a picture to print, click edit and rotate the image 180° so it looks upside down. This is so when you punch a hole in the top of the print, the gift tag hangs so the picture is the right way up (Important – never punch a hole into undeveloped film as the chemicals sit inside the wide white part of the film and will be harmful to your skin!).
If you don’t want to punch a hole, you can print as normal and stick the instax print to a piece of card and punch the hole in the card instead.
Wrap your toffee apple with film or place it in a film bag (stick upwards),
thread your ribbon through the hole in the print, then wrap it around the film and tie it in a bow.

Photo Piñata

Buy a spooky-themed piñata for your party. Fill it with sweets and instax pictures so it will be even more of a surprise when the winner smashes it open.

Pumpkin Carving

This is one Halloween tradition that is as safe and fun as ever – apart from carving injuries! So as always, please be careful with the knife!
Create some scary pumpkin faces and make it an unforgettable event with your family by taking some snaps with your instax camera.
TIP: Roast the pumpkin’s seeds for a healthy snack!

Ghoulish Goodie Bags

So no sweets and snacks get left behind, create personalised gift bags for your friends and surprise them. Choose some pictures from last year’s Halloween parties which have great memories for you and your friends, stick them to the goodie bags and decorate in Halloween bits. Hand out the candy bags by placing them in front of their door. So this is a way to still feel connected to your friends, even during COVID and by keeping distance.

Filed under Be Inspired blog Consumer Tutorials