Having received an ‘Impossible I-1’ instant Polaroid camera for Christmas I was keen to experiment. The beauty of Polaroids is that the processing chemicals are contained in the actual film which means they can be physically manipulated after processing. The first image was created by peeling apart the layers of the original Polaroid film with a little help from a hairdryer to soften the layers. The image is transparent and leads me to think about how I can play with projections and overlaying images. The second image was from the same photograph – it was the negative from the black backing, rinsed with bleach and water to remove the chemical layers. As each layer is removed, different effects can be achieved, creating images from brownish-yellow, to greenish-purple, to cyan. The process can be halted at any time and the images can be further manipulated according to how the bleach is applied, creating mixed patches of colour.
As well as being really excited about the process and results, I am also rather pleased with myself as I have figured out how to scan images and upload them onto the blog. Every day I learn something new!