Polaroid Lifts

First I must point out that a Polaroid lift is NOT a Polaroid transfer, they are two different photographic processes that can be achieved with a Polaroid print.

A Polaroid Lift involves the lifting off of the top emulsion layer of the a Polaroid image. The top emulsion layer once lifted is then very soft and manageable which means that it is easily manipulated onto different surfaces. (Paper, glass, rocks, eggs, the list is almost endless what the thin film of emulsion can stick too.)

BEFORE YOU BEGIN: you must not use a fresh Polaroid image. The photo must have at least 24hours to dry properly otherwise the transfer will not be successful.

Instructions

1. Heat water to about 180 degrees. Place the picture into the hot water with the image facing up. Allow the picture to remain in the water until the image begins to lift up from the corners of the paper and small bubbles begin to form. This usually takes between 2 and 4 minutes.

2. Remove the picture carefully from the hot water using a pair of tongs. Immediately place the picture into a tray of lukewarm water. Using your forefinger, gently push at the top emulsion layer, starting at the edges and working through to the centre until the entire image is lifted off of the paper backing. Remove the backing and throw away. During this process, do your best to remove the jelly-like layer of chemicals from the back of the emulsion layer.

3. Take the surface on which you've chosen to place the emulsion lift and immerse it into the water below the image. Allow the image to rest on its new surface while gently manipulating the emulsion layer to smooth out wrinkles.

4. Lift the image and its new surface out of the warm water, being careful not to move or tear the fragile emulsion layer. Allow the emulsion transfer to dry overnight.

Image by Paul Dougherty

This youTube video by greyhorn is a great tutorial on how to achieve the emulsion lift from a Polaroid.

For more information on Polaroid Transfers go to alternativephotography.com

//images link back to source.

Mixing it Up

I was reading my morning blogs, when I came across a great post on Crashing Alternative Processes. He posted an interesting article about combining Cyanotype and Van Dyke alternative processes (here). A Cyan-o-dyke if you will.

                                                            Image taken by me. (here)



I thought that this was an interesting cross over between two different alternative processes. Both processes require different chemicals and different time exposure to the sun, but are able to be layered on top of one another.

Cyanotype Process and Van Dyke Process





This mix of two processes is very similar to layering in Photoshop, in which two different images can be combined and blended into one another to complete a whole image.



Traditional layering and digital layering while achieved in an entirly different way, are in essence a similar process.

Alternative meets Digital?

I talk about exploring the alternative techniques of photography, and Polaroid falls under this very title, but this post is dedicated to the merging of alternative meets digital. Polaroid has just released a new product that bridges the boundary between digital and analogue photography.

Polaroid is a trademarked camera and film company that produced instant photographs, but has since ceased production of their instant film (Wilson, 2008). Due to the mass popularization of photography and an increasing interest in the instantaneous, Polaroid has become re-popularized. Polaroid itself has created a new product that is aimed at mainstream digital enthusiasts, while on the other hand a group of individuals have recreated the old traditional instant film.

While Polaroid has ceased production of the analogue instant film, The impossible Project brought life back into the analogue cameras and instant film photography (D-Photo, 2010).

“In October 2008 the Impossible Project saved the last Polaroid production plant
for integral instant film in Enschede (NL) and started to invent and produce totally
new instant film materials for traditional Polaroid cameras. In 2010 Impossible
saved analogue instant photography from extinction by releasing various, brand
new and unique instant films.” (Impossible, 2010)

Polaroid have jumped ship and joined the digital bandwagon. The Polaroid PoGo Grey Label GL 10 is an “instant mobile printer” that aims at “marrying the convenience of today’s digital images and the original Polaroid instant experience”. It is a wireless printer that prints from mobiles phones and laptops.

Polaroid has created this new instantaneous digital printer that links digital photography and Polaroid’s reputation as an instant analogue photo producer. The bridging of these two elements has created a new product that relates back to alternative photography. After abandoning production of their analogue cameras and film, they have been able to adapt to the mass popularization of digital photography while maintaining an essence of traditional Polaroid film.

My personal opinion on this new product is why? I understand the draw for having a picture printed out instantly has appeal, but ultimately we opt to keep and store our images in a digital format; on our phones, on the web, or external hard drives. If we print a single image out, it is one image shared physically, one on one, one copy, and you only have access when the particular individual shows you. Digitally it is one image shared between many, time and access are irrelevant as online countless individuals can view, access, and share the single image at one time, anytime of day.

If you would like anymore information on the topics, please leave a comment.

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Wilson, J. (2008). Fans Bid Farewell to Polaroid. CNN Tech. Retrieved August 19, 2011, from http://articles.cnn.com/2008-12-08/tech/polaroid.farewell_1_instant-film-polaroid-corp-day-polaroid?_s=PM:TECH

Impossible Project. (2010). Retrieved August 19, 2011, from http://www.the-impossible-project.com/about/

D-Photo. (2010). Polaroid Back from the Grave. Digital Photography Made Easy. Retrieved August 19, 2011, from http://www.dphoto.co.nz/photography-news-6900/polaroid-back-from-the-grave/

Instant Mobile Printer. (2011) Retrieved August 19, 2011, from http://store.polaroid.com/product/0/425422/GL10/_/Instant_Mobile_Printer

Pet Peeve

Image courtesy Karen Yarbrough.

This typographic poster accuratly dipicts one of the many stimgas attatched to being a photographer in the digital culture. They assume that the more expensive your camera, the better you images. Truth is, it's the individual. Someone can own the most expensive camera but have no idea how to use it. The art of making and taking a photo must be practiced, it is not just aquire it as soon as you touch a camera.

Why is Photography Important?

Photography has been around since 1826, when French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niepce became the first person to produce a permanent photograph; photography has since become one of the most popular cultural practises this century (Hirsch, 1999).

Photography is “the act of recording images on sensitized material by the action of light” (here). The act of recording events and information is important for historical and cultural reasons.

Documenting society is essential for present and future peoples to better understand the past. Not only is photography important for cultural reasons, but it plays an important part in keeping alive, maintaining, and creating personal and social relations. Common beliefs aided in the shaping of traditional family roles in communities, men were the supporters of the family while woman stayed at home to care for the children; traditional pre modernisation family values (Giddens, 1991, p84). As a result of strong family and social values, photographs and cultural behaviours converged into social practices such as the taking of the family portrait to safeguard family heritage, photo albums, and photography as a craft. By drawing on these examples of behaviours, we can see how important photography is socially and culturally, and how it has become an inherited part of society as it reinforces traditional ideas of community.

In a digital world, portable cameras enable people to create and maintain instant social relations through an array of computer mediated communication platforms. This is not only reinforcement as to how important photography is, but how integrated the behaviour of taking a photo has become in mainstream culture. For example, while traditional photo albums were one item shared with many, uploading photos online means that one digital album can be shared with multiple people at one time with the bonus of having twenty-four-hours access to your photographs.

Photography has been around for almost two hundred years and has evolved with communities as technology has advanced. The recording of images it is an important and unavoidable part of the twentieth century.
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References

Hirsch, R. (1999) Seizing the Light: A History of Photography. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.

Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: self and society in the late modern age. U.S.A.: Stanford University Press.