Friday Fading Polaroid Report

Triboro Bridge © Russell Kaye & Sandra-Lee Phipps
I Got all weepy this morning while washing the polaroids from yesterday's shoot. Here's an older polaroid neg that didn't make it home so safely and the emulsion started to lift off - we're going to miss the the happy accidents.

8 comments:

Tomé Duarte said...

you could easily emulate that in photochop with the advantage of controlling all the small details of the accident.

:O

Russell Kaye said...

Tome': it wouldn't be the same; your forgetting the part about happy accidents, not to mention the crappy little 3 inch lcd on the back of my canon...totally diffrent working methods..

wouldn't that be like purposely running your car out of gas while driving through the Basque region of Spain just so you might discover a little hidden gem of a restaurant...

Anonymous said...

Having just looked through your website, all I can say is... it's a crying shame that you won't be able to use polaroid anymore.

I'm bummed too, as I've only recently started using it, but you really make the stuff sing!

Sometimes the world doesn't know what they've got 'til it's gone. *sigh*

Russell Kaye said...

suzanne- thnx for your kind words

Anonymous said...

Let me guess -- you soaked them in water instead of SS? Almost lost an entire annual report once; carried the negs on the plane in water, instead of SS. (Pre 9-11 of course). With SS, it'll never slip off.

Russell Kaye said...

I tried Na2SO3 a couple of times but it always left a crystaline film on the o-ring of the pelican case allowing it to leak the purple-black liquid all over the white carpet in the living room.

plain H20 always works fairly well - if I need a non-atmospheric image, I simply shoot an extra polaroid and wait until I'm back home to develop it. (which also allows for more happy accidents when you forget to take the last one out of the holder and shoot it again the next day - I have a really cool double exposure of Bette Middler and the Roosevelt Island Leprosy Hospital Ruins) (waiting for Tome´to chime in that this can also be done in photochop)

Anonymous said...

I have shot a TON of 665 neg and Type 55 neg over the years. I had long talks with Polaroid engineers about it. Their consensus: Water actually SOFTENS the emulsion, and SSulfite HARDENS the emulsion.

But yes, you'll have to deal with "the white stains on the dress" if you mess with SS. It's insidious. It has a life of its own.

Russell Kaye said...

some like it hard, some like it soft..

what's with all the anonymity anyway?