People love Polaroids. They are tangible proof that photos exist in the real world. The way the just appear on a piece of plastic is indistinguishable form actual magic. For me as a photographer, they are an unpredictable, nearly uncontrollable medium. I have to give up what I love so much about shooting with DSLRs. There are hardly any settings, the cameras are old and unreliable and the film ist often times experimental and finicky when it comes to storing and shooting conditions. But that unpredictability is what it makes true art for me. You have to lean back, let the medium do its thing and be glad that you can be along for the ride. As a result, the following images are imperfect from a technical point of view, but perfect in every other sense of the word.
Redscale is colour film that has been turned around and re-spooled, so you are shooting it through the backside. You can do it at home in a dark bag. To get a good exposure, you then have to rate it two stops slower. This AGFA Vista+ 400 becomes ISO 100 film and has a really nice red tint. Shame it is discontinued, but I have a few rolls left in my fridge.
Here are some images I shot on AGFA APX 400 that has been expired for >10 years. I shot it at ISO 800 and pushed it one stop in development with Rodinal, so it gets even more grainy. I love grain.
I shot these on my Instax mini 90 and Instax black and white film for the #ShittyCameraChallenge over on Twitter. It was one of the most expensive trips to the gas station I ever took.
Film always is a bit of an experiment, compared to digital, because you lock in so many parameters, when you decide on a film. Sometimes that is great, because it can enhance your subject, and make many development steps unnecessary, you would need to do to a digital file.
Sometimes it can also be a challenge. Here, I used Cinestill 800T for a midday shoot, which turned out to be a not so great idea, because there was way more color cast than I expected. I tried to dial in the colors to a somewhat natural level, but next time I’m gonna chose another film, or use a filter to warm up the tones. The pictures turned out quite nice, anyways. At least in my opinion.
Other analog images here:
