So, I’m still thinking about how real things are important when it comes to photography. And I start sorting through all the prints in boxes I was sorting into my filing cabinet tonight, and all the contents of my locker from this year. And I came upon this picture. Jason Edwards was kind enough to let me purchase one shot of Polaroid 8×10 instant film, and I shot it when I was shooting the 8×10 negs I used to make prints similar to the image in the the post below. And well. I got a little emotional.
First off, Jason Edwards went to Europe with his family, and will be spending some time at his home in Regina until sometime around August, and I’m going to miss that wacky Polaroid Guy. He just got into skateboarding, he caught the stoke through me, and on his last night in town in Vancouver, we went out and just skated around smooth streets. He took his first pretty epic bail, and I’m glad to say I was there for it (sorry man, but it had to happen and I’m stoked I was there!). Anyways, I’ll miss him.
Second, looking at the image above I started thinking about photographs and Polaroid and Digital and what it all means again. And I got to a point where I almost cried about the image above. You cannot reproduce this, ever. Okay, yeah, duhh, Polaroids = one offs. But seriously, there is nothing else that is capable of doing what this medium can do. The wonky colour casts (I corrected this as best on screen as I could, but really gave up after a certain point, because well, you can’t match it) are something I’ve come to love through Jason’s photographs, and they are something that happens based on so many variables; the age of the film, the temperature it was: stored at, shot at, processed at, your exposure. It’s something Digital photography is physically incapable of producing, because they are theoretically accidents, or at least variables that don’t happen with computers. And even if you want to talk about potatochopping in colour casts and things, there’s one thing that is only possible with this medium.
That is the reliefs. If you pick up and hold certain Polaroid materials, you can see a relief. What I mean is you can see areas where the chemicals physically move around and do something I have no idea how to comprehend to form lines and shapes following the lines and shapes in the image.
And well, I guess I’m way too tired to try and really explain how I’m feeling about this picture. And my cat is pushing up against my ankle, so I really just want to go to bed. But I can say this is probably the first image I’ve produced just about ever, that I actually want to save money so I can buy a good frame and matting for it, maybe I’m just making it into a symbol in my head for what is real and what is not, or maybe I’m just really tired. If you’re reading this and have extra money, go buy some Polaroid while (if) you still can, find a camera on Ebay or a thrift shop, and go shoot some pictures you have to treasure and value, because they are the only ones, and you need to hold them in your hands.
PS: I am the lamest ever.
