In Japan, small to medium photographic businesses struggle every day with fierce competition from the giant shopping malls offering all things digital at seemingly lower and lower prices.

For our client Photo Kanon, a premium range of camera shops specializing in instant cameras like Polaroid and Fuji Instax, the challenge was even harder.

How do you excite and demonstrate the fun of authentic instant photography to a young audience that has only ever known digital and smartphone photography?

The end goal was to generate more spontaneous traffic in all the shops that would lead to more purchases of cameras and accessories.

We reinvented the traditional and ignored sun shades on top of all the stores of Photo Kanon around Tokyo. (Photo Kanon is a premium range of camera shops specializing in instant cameras like Polaroid and Fuji Instax)

First we took several portraits of trendy youngsters. The best were then printed, with the iconic white frame, on a giant scale and made into sunshades. Finally, we hung the sunshades on the exterior of the Photo Kanon shops. As people walked past they triggered the instant photo automatic mechanism accompanied with the distinctive sound of an instant photo being taken, and the shade came out as if printing an instant photo into the street.

We reinvented the traditional and ignored sun shades on top of all the stores of Photo Kanon around Tokyo. (Photo Kanon is a premium range of camera shops specializing in instant cameras like Polaroid and Fuji Instax)

First we took several portraits of trendy youngsters. The best were then printed, with the iconic white frame, on a giant scale and made into sunshades. Finally, we hung the sunshades on the exterior of the Photo Kanon shops. As people walked past they triggered the instant photo automatic mechanism accompanied with the distinctive sound of an instant photo being taken, and the shade came out as if printing an instant photo into the street.

The interactive outdoor is now permanent on all Photo Kanon stores.