From The Archives 3 – Polaroid Passion

Victoria Allen (late 1980’s)

I used the Polaroid camera for much of my art reference until the digital camera made it obsolete. In fact I used it for most of my photography, period. It was fun, maddening and expensive. Listening to the whir of the gears spit out the just taken picture after clicking the shutter, then watching the image come to life was always a thrill and full of apprehension. You never knew if you were going to get anything worth using or saving as the film was inconsistent in its developing process and the the shutter was on the slow side so anything in low light was difficult to keep in focus.

Paul and Tammy (late 1980’s)

When I was using the camera for reference these issues were not so important as I only needed some down and dirty images to help me see what was necessary for creating an illustration, like the foreshortening of an arm for instance. When using the camera for personal shots I used the film sparingly because it was so expensive. Every so often the alchemy would align and a real gem would appear. I will be showcasing some of these in my book with Titan Publishing.

Brazil (late 1980’s)

I love that the special grain inherent in Polaroid film is able to be appreciated in seeing these images larger than the normal 3″x 3.25″ picture. You can click on these to see them larger.

Beauty (late 1980’s)

Some of the low light images have an ethereal quality that evoke the feeling of a dream or memory.

Eve (2000’s)

Suger Ray’s Fist (late 1980’s)

Polaroid Mishap (late 1980’s)

Sometimes the mishaps could be interesting and beautiful unto themselves.