In 1976, Polaroid built a massive instant camera that stood 6.5 feet / 2 meters tall and weighed 235 pounds / 107 kg – roughly the size of an average refrigerator. That camera would go on to be used by names like Ansel Adams, Sally Mann and Andy Warhol.
Now, fifty years later, the camera is once again being used by modern artists.
The oversized bellows camera uses specially made 20x24 Polaroid film. Polaroid originally built five of the cameras, designed to be an eye-catching piece at shows and events. But when it found new ownership through the Impossible Project, one of the massive cameras was discovered collecting dust in a storage room.
Polaroid decided to not only refurbish the oversized camera, but also make the large 20x24 sheet film for it. Now the Polaroid Foundation is taking the camera on tour, giving artists around the world the opportunity to use the rare camera while filming an ongoing documentary called the 20x24 Project.
The camera follows the classic design of a field camera with folding bellows – but it sits on a wheeled base and, unlike field cameras, was only ever meant to be used in a studio.
The film creates a 20x24 image. Like smaller Polaroid cameras, the its rollers rupture a chemical pod to develop the film without a dark room. But unlike the more classic instant film, these 20x24 images are cut from rolls after the image is exposed.
The 20x24 Project, with the support of Polaroid, is now taking the restored camera around the world. John Reuter, a former Polaroid employee, is accompanying it with protégée Harriet Browse. Traveling with the camera is no easy feat, however, as it’s too large to even fit on an airplane.
The organization has been taking the camera across the globe to be used by artists, including visiting the oldest art exhibition in the world – the Venice Biennale.
The organization’s modern goal in 2026 echoes the camera’s past. While originally built as a showpiece, the camera went on to be part of the Polaroid Artist Support Program. The program provided Polaroid cameras and film to both emerging and established artists.
The program was established in 1949 and, while modern camera brands now offer ambassador programs, the concept at the time was unique. The photos that the artists created using the free film and cameras would go on to be part of what later became called The Polaroid Collection.
According to the 20x24 Project, that history means the newly restored camera now on tour with modern artists was once used by artists like Robert Maplethorpe, Mary Ellen Mark, William Wegman, Chuck Close, Richard Prince, Peter Beard, Jullian Schnobble, Barbara Kassen, Lucas Mars, Helen Chap, Carrie Williams, Luigi Gary and others.
The Guinness Book of World Records notes that the 20x24 Polaroid, first built in 1976, still holds the world record for the world’s largest Polaroid camera. Film fans and camera nerds can watch the oversized camera’s travel adventures on the 20x24 Project’s YouTube Channel.
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