I am starting a new project involving adapting a Polaroid back to a 80-85 year old folding camera.
Details in this video!
Category: Instant Photography
Whatever Doesn’t Kill You . . .
I have to confess there are times when the thought of just sticking a memory card in a DSLR is appealing; the odds are higher that the camera will “just work.” Recently, the idea of something “just working” in traditional film photography for me seems unrealistic. In the last week, I’ve had to deal with the following:
- a Polaroid SX-70 camera that only grudgingly spits out images
- a Rolleicord III Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) camera that won’t stop at frame 1
- A Yashica TLR whose shutter/film winder mechanism often takes a lot of begging and pleading to function
- a Polaroid pack camera deciding to jam in the middle of a shoot
- a Polaroid self-timer not working
- Polaroid shoots where negatives (and indeed sometimes even the prints!) get smeared, or dry strangely because of the recent heat. Today’s image is an example of that particular issue.
I still love film cameras, but there are times where it seems like unrequited love (something I’ve experienced more than once, over the course of my life).
I’m not whining, mind you; just the blog equivalent of sighing. I’m fully aware that this is the price I have to pay.
Part of the Brotherhood
This post isn’t about the image but the interaction. I was on a shoot in Kensington Market yesterday, with the Polaroid around my neck getting plenty of attention. The photographer in the image below walked up with a smile on his face, and a DSLR around his neck. We talk for a bit, and it turns out he has a beautiful Pentacon 6 Medium format camera.
(Polaroid Land Camera Model 100, Fuji FP-100C Instant film)
Journey vs. Destination
Today’s photograph is from a shoot last evening with model/actor Sarah. It was getting dark quickly, but thanks to the 3000 speed instant film (Fuji FP-3000) in my Polaroid Land Camera 455 I was able to get a number of good instant images. If the photo is the destination, then using the Polaroid makes for an interesting journey; Sarah and I were able to review the images as we shot, not as LCD images on the back of a camera, but as a print in our hands, and we both felt that was a crucial difference. Sarah is a perfectionist when it comes to getting her poses and expressions just right, and she certainly did an amazing job!
Anything is Possible
My stable of instant cameras has grown by one, as I have acquired a first generation Polaroid SX-70 instant camera, dating from about 1972. This camera is a beautiful piece of design and engineering, and it is hard to realize today what an impact it made when it was first announced. For film, as the original Polaroid film is no longer made the only choice is to use Impossible Project film. It is not the most straightforward film (i.e. the prints must be hidden from light for the first few minutes, and the results can be unpredictable), but it is great that an old classic like the SX-70 can still do what it was meant to do.
(My first successful SX-70 image, using Impossible Project color shade film)
Capturing the Smile
I really like the smile I on this street musician; it makes me smile back 🙂
(Polaroid 100 Land Camera, Fuji FP-100C Instant colour film, scan of reclaimed negative)
Hacking the Process, Part 2
In a recent post, I showed an example of what could be done with the negative from Fuji’s instant black and white film (FP-3000C), once allowed to dry and then scanned. Today, another example of hacking the process: it is possible to take the negative from Fuji’s colour instant film (FPC-100) and carefully wash the black backing off with bleach, and then wash the developer off with plain water. You are left with a transparent negative that can be scanned as a colour negative (albeit requiring a lot of colour correct in the post work). I love the results, and the messy borders add to the character of the image, in my opinion. I am also struck by the sharpness of this approach, compared to the scan of the original print, which seems soft to me. Expect to see more bleached negatives in the very near future!
(Classic car in Kensington Market, taken with Polaroid Land Camera model 100)
Making Connections
I was out with my Polaroid camera today, and on three different occasions I was stopped by a smiling passerby, asking questions about the camera: how old it was, where do I get film, etc. It was like being out walking one’s dog, as a means for initiating conversations with strangers (and as an introvert, I often find this very difficult to do!). I have also gotten the same reaction when out with a Rolleicord Twins Lens Reflex.
If a goal of photography is connecting with people, then these vintage cameras help me fulfill that goal!
(Street busker shot in Kensington Market 22 July, 2012, Polaroid 100 Land camera, Fuji FP-100C instant colour film)
People and Polaroids
Instant Photography is all about people. The experience of sharing the print (as a tangible object) so soon after the image was taken adds a unique flavour to a photographic interaction, and this was quite evident of a photo shoot I had last evening with my good friend Jo-Anne. We shoot a lot of Polaroids, and she enjoyed being able to see them, and I believe she was energized in her posing by seeing how well her poses and looks worked. This image is another negative scan (where the negative peel-away portion of the print is saved, allowed to dry then scanned, and inverted back into a positive). I love the grain and the vintage look I get from these negative scans, and Jo-Anne’s look suited the technique perfectly.
Hacking the Process
Today’s image is a scan of the negative from one of the Polaroids I took at my “Old Friends” shoot this past Sunday. Originally meant to just be thrown away, if these negatives are carefully allowed to dry, they can be scanned and inverted (negative -> positive). The results have a character all their own!
I like processes and materials that can be extended and altered in ways the original manufacturer never dreamed of, and film photography is perfect for this, in a way that digital never could be.
My Third Eye 