The Impossible Project Workshop

In April we had a bit of a more relaxed day at College as we were going to be doing the “Impossible Project" workshop.  I will go into a bit about "Impossible" and then summarise our workshop.  

The company Impossible took over the production of Polaroid film after production of the film ceased.

In 2008, Impossible purchased the Polaroid™ factory in Enschede, The Netherlands. The components used by Polaroid™ were no longer usable, and the formula had to be re-invented.

A few years after the very first pack of film produced by Impossible, the formula has been refined to provide a rich color palette and a fast development time. 

The current generation of Black & White Impossible film has a development time of approximately 10 minutes, the Color ones of approximately 40 minutes, but they were working on a faster emergence and development film. 

I was lucky enough to have been given an old Polaroid by my mom and dad, and this was what I would use for the Impossible Project today.  I purchased a black and white film from the college shop.  The films come in packs of 8 unlike the old Polaroid, which came in packs of 10.  (You need to remember this when using your camera, as the counter on the camera is configured for packs of 10 films.)

Emma first showed us how she approached the Impossible Project.  Emma used a scalpel to remove all of the frame/border from the Polaroid.  (I had done a bit of research online, watching YouTube videos about how to do Polaroid lifts.)  We then went through the process of then cleaning the white emulsion off the Polaroid, and what we were left with looked quite “snotty”.  We then had to manipulate the film and apply it first to our paper, and then to our tile.

My Polaroid films didn’t seem to develop properly, and were quite faint.  I did go back outside to take a couple more films, but without much improvement.  One film that was faint but vaguely recognizable was the one I decided to use.  I decided not to use a scalpel, and after watching YouTube I decided to use scissors to remove the frame and proceed to get the lift onto the paper.  Although the image is faint, it has an aged quality and looks vaguely sepia in tone.  I did try a second Polaroid, which was quite old, and there was some problem removing the white emulsion from it.  I did get as much off as I could and then put the lift onto some more paper.

The black and white film did seem more fragile than the colour film.

This was quite a fun project, and it is something that I want to try again at home.  I have purchase a Universal Instant Lab.  With this I can then use my smartphone images and print them out onto Impossible film.  I have purchased some Impossible film, but these have fancy borders, I will purchase some white border film and keep the fancy borders for other use, it would be a shame to have to throw away the border.

So something that is "impossible" can still be fun.  You can download their App for your smartphone, and you can also look at their website where you can get lots of inspiration.  Beware though as you may be tempted into purchasing from there, it can be quite addictive!

I will be adding some images from my workshop soon, so keep an eye out for these.

Darkroom vs Digital Techniques - Polaroids, Frames, Lifts, Diptychs and Triptychs

As part of this assignment 'Darkroom vs Digital Techniques' we had to go through the process of producing images that had frames, a Polaroid look, lifts, diptychs and triptychs.  The are all styles that can be produced non-digitally, but for this part of the assignment we had to go through the different stages to produce them digitally.  Below are some screenshots of the process of producing the different styles.  Hopefully, you can have some fun yourself, and have a go a producing your own.  It takes a bit of fun, but adds another dimension to your digital images.

The first image would again need to be darkened in the background so that they all have this consistency.

TTV

Bringing two images so you can see them both in Photoshop.  Cmd + A, Cmd + C, Cmd + V.

Blending mode to multiply.

Resize image where necessary.

Enter quick mask by pressing Q.  

Select Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur.  Set the radius accordingly.

Screen Shots of Polaroid Emulsion Transfer

Make sure all parts are brought together in a single file, having opened a new A4 page.  Make sure that the orientation is appropriate for the image.  Landscape and portrait.

Select, Modify, Expand.

Feather radius 1 pixel.

Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur.

Using the liquify tool.

The start of a Diptych.

Selected quick mask so that I could select an area to darken the background so that both images’ backgrounds were darker.

A triptych on an A3 background.

The first image would again need to be darkened in the background so that they all have this consistency.

The digital techniques of Polaroids, Frames, and Lifts can add texture to original images.  They aren't the same as Polaroids etc, but do try to play homage to these original photographic styles.  

The Diptych and Triptychs are there for you to use to show a series, or theme.  Diptych means two, Triptych means three, and so on.  Just remember that the images that you want to display within these should have a theme, i.e. Street Photography, Portraits, Landscapes, etc.  They should ideally have a connection.  You don't want to have one image of a portrait, a landscape, and then wildlife.  Try to be consistent.  

You just need to remember that these techniques that I have shown are really just for fun, or to add a bit of texture to your images.  With practice you will find the processes become easier, and as they say practice makes perfect. 

My images have been edited in Photoshop, but you may find that other editing software can be used to the same effect.