[Leica] Polaroid SX-70 Manipulations #1

[Christopher Crawford]

No. The only film that it ever worked on was the old Polaroid SX-70 that was discontinued some time in the late 1990s. It never worked on Polaroid 600 or Spectra, or on any of Fuji's instant films. Doesn't work on the new Polaroid materials made today either. The old Polaroid materials allowed a lot of experimental work.

Something else that you could do with the old Polaroid materials was emulsion lifts. This worked on the type 669 Peel-Apart film. The print would be placed in a tray of hot water, then moved to a tray of cold water. This softened the emulsion then broke it loose from the plastic backing. You could then slide apiece of drawing paper under the floating emulsion. The emulsion would be wrinkled and could be manipulated before it dried. Once dry, it stuck to the new paper. Here's an example:

https://chriscrawfordphoto.com/chris-details.php?product=1816

Image Transfers were another thing that worked with the peel-apart films. With this technique, you took a piece of drawing paper and soaked it in water for a few minutes, then blotted it so it was damp but not wet on the surface. You would take a picture with the peel apart film. Normally, you pulled the film from the camera and waited 90 seconds to peel it apart. When doing a transfer, you'd pull it apart immediately then quickly put the 'negative' sheet face down on the damp drawing paper. A rubber roller was used to push it flat on the paper. You then waited the 90 seconds before peeling the negative sheet off. The image would be transferred to the drawing paper. Because regular paper does not have the gelatin receiving layer that the Polaroid print material has, the image would look soft, with muted color. Here's one:

https://chriscrawfordphoto.com/chris-details.php?product=1835


-- 
Chris Crawford
Fine Art Photography
Fort Wayne, Indiana
260-437-8990

https://chriscrawfordphoto.com  My portfolio

https://crawfordphotoschool.com Learn From Me



On 3/22/22, 10:11 PM, "LUG on behalf of Jayanand Govindaraj via LUG" <lug-bounces+chris=chriscrawfordphoto.com at leica-users.org on behalf of lug at leica-users.org> wrote:

    I like this. Never have used Polaroids. Can this be replicated on a Fuji
    Instax?
    
    Cheers
    Jayanand
    
    On Wed, Mar 23, 2022 at 3:48 AM Christopher Crawford <
    chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com> wrote:
    
    > Last night I scanned a bunch of experimental photographs that I made on
    > Polaroid film when I was an art student in the late 1990s. The old Polaroid
    > SX-70 film was soft when it first developed, and you could use a blunt
    > object to smear the image around.
    >
    >
    >
    > This photograph of a pair of butternut squash that my grandma had picked
    > in her garden was one of the first of these Polaroid Manipulations that I
    > did. Unfortunately, they can't be done anymore; the modern Polaroid films
    > harden too quickly.
    >
    >
    >
    > https://chriscrawfordphoto.com/chris-details.php?product=3606
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > --
    >
    > Chris Crawford
    >
    > Fine Art Photography
    >
    > Fort Wayne, Indiana
    >
    > 260-437-8990
    >
    >
    >
    > https://chriscrawfordphoto.com  My portfolio
    >
    >
    >
    > https://crawfordphotoschool.com Learn From Me
    >
    >
    > _______________________________________________
    > Leica Users Group.
    > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
    >
    
    _______________________________________________
    Leica Users Group.
    See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information