Monday, June 8, 2009

The Long Lost Polaroid Film


Today's post from the New York Times blog The Lens is all about large format, positive-negative Polaroid film. They feature a slideshow of several examples from photographers who have used it in the past. The two films are Type 55 and Polaroid 665. Photographers who opted to use this film toted white buckets of sodium sulfite to rinse their photos after developing. They were then hung out to dry. Both films had a unique border to them that I think make the photo look more aged than they truly are. 

In this digital age, it's nice to go back to the basics once in a while and appreciate what film can do for your art. Unfortunately, Polaroid no longer makes this film. And for that matter, I don't think Polaroid manufactures any film these days. 

But, for a little film nostalgia, check out the blog post and read the stories some of the photographers have from their experiences shooting with the Polaroid films. 

2 comments:

  1. It was a sad, sad day for me when Polaroid stopped making film. I still have a few boxes left that I'm hoarding but I do need to use them fairly soon because they do expire. I'll have to make the last shot something really special!

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  2. creativity with a Polaroid required true commitment. I miss Polaroids too. They were "instant" photos before the digital camera and portable memory stick was invented...

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