So you thought your 50MP mirrorless beast was big? Well, the Imago is a camera you walk inside. A 6.85-metre-long analog monster that shoots life-sized portraits on 62×200cm photographic paper. And for the first time in its 50-year history, this one-of-a-kind mechanical marvel is up for sale.
Its story sounds like a dream you get after eating too much cheese. Back in the 1970s, German physicist Werner Kraus was commissioned to photograph the Daimler-Benz Wankel engine's combustion cycle at 1:1 scale. To meet the challenge, he invented a brand new photo-optical system. Later, he teamed up with artist and sculptor Erhard Hößle to build the Imago Camera, based on the same tech. It was a walk-in camera that could photograph people at actual size, with zero distortion.
The specs of this thing are wild. The Imago uses a custom optical system with an extremely high focal length, allowing it to capture 1:1 scale images without warping. Six precisely tuned strobes fire simultaneously to expose the relatively insensitive direct positive paper; because yes, this thing shoots straight to paper, no negative involved. Every image is unique, unrepeatable and takes 10 minutes to develop using conventional black-and-white chemistry.
And here's the kicker: you're both photographer and subject. You step inside, check your composition in a giant mirror viewfinder, and release the trigger yourself. In short, it's the world's most elaborate selfie booth.
Back to life
The camera operated briefly during the Fluxus movement in Munich, creating extraordinary portraits, before being mothballed in 1976 when production of the necessary photographic paper ceased. It spent three decades gathering dust in the Pinakothek der Moderne museum archive, seemingly destined to become a footnote in photographic history.
Enter Susanna Kraus, Werner's daughter, who rediscovered her father's photographs in 2005 and embarked on an ambitious restoration. Yet she faced a seemingly insurmountable problem: nobody made the paper anymore.
In a move that speaks to her determination, she convinced Ilford Switzerland to develop and manufacture the specialised direct positive paper needed to bring the camera back to life. By 2006, the Imago was operational again.
For nearly two decades, Susanna ran it as a working photo studio at the Aufbau Haus in Berlin's Kreuzberg district, creating thousands of unique portraits. The camera travelled to Rotterdam, Shanghai, Vienna and Leipzig with a mobile version called the Imago Photour, built in 2014, that could be transported in a shipping container. Subjects included Nick Cave, Robert Wilson, Anton Corbijn, and Wim Wenders; each receiving their unrepeatable, life-sized self-portrait.
What happens next?
Susanna Kraus passed away in March this year, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy. Her sons are now handling the sale of the camera through Frank Darius, accepting bids via a private process.
We hope it goes to someone who can be a good custodian to this slice of living photographic history. Because in an age of infinite digital copies and AI-generated perfection, there's something profoundly moving about a machine that creates one-of-a-kind, human-scaled portraits that require you to literally step inside the lens.
If you've got the space, the resources, and the vision to carry this extraordinary machine into the future, email enquiries are being handled at kraus@imagocamera.com. Just make sure you've got very high ceilings.
Check out our guide to the best film cameras you can buy today, if you want something a bit smaller
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