Simulated capture of the eclipse with a simulated Polaroid, iPhone app.

Light and Darkness

April 14, 2024

A total solar eclipse occurred this week, visible to a large swath of the North American population. Unfortunately, New Mexico was not in the path of full totality, and the cloud cover obscured the partial eclipse in our sky. Still, there was noticeable shift in the midday light, and experiencing even a small bit of a shift away from the everyday was enough to give pause and provoke some deeper thoughts.

It was fascinating to watch coverage of the eclipse on my computer monitor. NASA did a wonderful job of tracking the progress via a live stream, complete with moody, new age music. The result was not schmaltzy but quite the contrary. The power and glory of the cosmos making its presence known to a great mass of people is a rare thing. Watching crowds gather and celebrate a celestial event was heartening. We all share this world, and it was nice to be reminded that we are all within something greater than ourselves.

Polaroid Negative / Positive selfie (shot 6 years ago in Portugal)

2021: 46 Reclaiming Polaroid Negatives

November 20, 2021

I tinker. I putz. I dabble. I guess I need to keep my mind and my hands busy, otherwise the dark clouds can form. Enough said. I used to shoot quite a bit with my great Polaroid 360 camera. A glass lens, manual focus, Zeiss viewfinder, accordion bellows beast. I was inspired by the work done by Patti Smith, and back in the day, Fuji peel-apart film was cheap (like 10 bucks a box cheap.) Well, take a stroll over to eBay and you know those days are long gone, and Fuji isn’t even making the film anymore. So with a bare film shelf in my fridge, I had to put my 360 to rest.

I did have the forethought to keep the negative backing from some of my peel apart photos. Most folks would throw that part away, keeping only the nicely colored, long-lasting positive image. However, they didn’t realize that there was a salvageable “negative” buried beneath the backing paper and black, chemical coating. You can “reclaim” these negatives with a simple process using cling bleach and warm water. I went down the rabbit hole this week (tinkering, putzing) and reclaimed a bunch of old negatives…some shot over 6 years ago. I figured I’d share the process, in case anyone with deep pockets is still buying and shooting the Fuji dead stock and wants to get more mileage out of the film.

STEP ONE: Grab the left over backing paper from a recently (or not so recently) exposed sheet of Fuji peel-apart film. There are two sides, the one with the matte, black coating is the side you want to work with. Remove excess paper around the edges, if you so desire.

Bleach goes on this side

Don't bleach this side

STEP TWO: In a sink, place sheet face down on a flat surface. I used a small developing tray.

Paper removed, matte black facing up

The good stuff...bleach gel

STEP THREE: Using toilet cleaner bleach (the kind that is in gel form is really the best way to go, since it doesn’t run all over the place.)

slowly

apply

bleach gel

STEP FOUR: let it sit for about 30 secs to a minute.

Let is sit 30 - 60 sec

STEP FIVE: Rinse carefully with water. You’ll see chunks of black goo pulling off the negative. This is what you want to happen. Rinse until no more black chunks are visible, water runs clear.

Tilting a bit helps

Rinse with warm water

Watch the black rinse away

STEP SIX: Flip the negative over and rinse under warm (to hot) water, gently rubbing the surface with your fingers. try not to scratch, but even if you do, it’ll probably look cool. This step takes off any binding goo, but please note: you do not want to use bleach on this side.

Rinse the other side, rub gently with your fingers

STEP SEVEN: hang to dry

You’ll see a discolored negative image of the original photo, which you can take a photo of (or scan) and then invert in Photoshop, or the app of your choice. Do some adjustments to your liking…and voila! You have a cool, one of a kind, image. Rescued from oblivion, or at least the garbage dump. The fun thing about this process is you end up getting odd color shifts, surface textures, and rough edges that an Instagram dweeb would pee themselves over. I personally really like the look of scratches and emulsion distress.

The original positive

The reclaimed negative

Give it a try if you have some of this film lying around. In the meantime, I will write an angry crank letter to Fuji Corp. to beg them to manufacture this film again. Maybe if all the analogue folks out there do the same, we can drag these wonderful old cameras out of storage and shoot one of a kind (or two of a kind?) photos once again.

The final image, inverted and tweaked in Photoshop! Check out the janky, amazing frame.

2021: 37 Instant Pictures

September 18, 2021

Why were Polaroid cameras so popular when they first came out? People wanted to be able to see the results of their photography as quickly as possible. How different is this desire from the quick “shoot and chimp” approach of most digital photography today? There is a lot to be said for having the ability to review your photographs immediately. There are drawbacks as well. We are constantly searching for ways to remove the need for patience. So much effort to save some time, be it a self-checkout line at Target or a cup of instant ramen. But what do we lose when we no longer have to wait? Anticipation is a valuable part of the waiting process. Do we savor a meal that arrives quickly? Do we spend time with a photograph that we can look at while we are still in the middle of an experience? Can we truly appreciate something if we are instantly gratified?

2021: 24 The Fatherland

June 11, 2021

Off to NJ for some family time. See you next week. Here’s some old instant photos to fill your need for a weekly dose on my photos (I hope that’s not a real need…)

2019: 47 (Goodbye, Polaroid)

November 23, 2019

I have long held a deep appreciation for Polaroid film and cameras. Even back in the 80s, I had a Polaroid Spectra as part of my image making arsenal. About five years ago, inspired by Patti Smith, I purchased a beautiful Polaroid 360 camera off of Ebay… with a sharp glass lens and Zeiss viewfinder. It’s a thing of beauty. And as of today, it’s a beautiful paperweight in my office. A couple of years a go, Fujifilm decided to stop making their peel-part film, the only instant film that would still work in this camera. Immediately prices on a 10-pack of film started to creep up. What once cost 8 or 9 bucks on Amazon slowly increased in cost. Today, a box can fetch well over $50 on Ebay (and since it’s not being made anymore, folks are buying up expired stock.)

I decided that once my stockpile was gone, I would retire the camera for good. That moment arrived this past week. I took the 360 down to the bosque, and shot off my last 10 sheets. The whole process was over in about 30 minutes. I didn’t belabor the ending, shooting freely, and quickly. Fittingly, the absolutely last exposure to come out of the camera got jammed, and as I jimmied the camera back open to release the sheet of film, I unintentionally fogged the last exposure. Upon peeling, it reveals a wonderful gradient of pale blue within its signature white frame.

Unlike the Impossible Project / Polaroid Originals resurrection of the other instant film formats, I seriously doubt we’ll see another company pick up the mantle and large scale produce this specific kind of instant film. Dying formats are a sad reality in the world of film photography. Thankfully, renewed interest in film photography in general has brought back other films, and I will happily continue to run rolls of 35mm or 120 film through the rest of my camera collection. Still, I will miss the excitement of taking a shot with my old 360, waiting those seconds before peeling apart the packet to reveal the one-of-a kind image I just captured. Sic transit gloria Polaroid.

2019: 44 (Flaunt The Imperfections: Issue #4)

November 2, 2019

Very excited to share a sneak peek at my next project. A collaboration with my friend and fellow Latent Image Collective photographer, Francesco di Marco. The next issue of my film-based zine; this time ALL instant photographs. More details and pre-sale information coming soon.