I made some time for water and sand and soaked up as many pacific ocean ions as I could today. Watched aggressive seagulls tear into people’s picnic lunches while they swam. Watched kids decorate themselves with long trails of slimy seaweed. Watched college girls adjust themselves in their bikinis. Watched men stare.
And, in the midst of that, I breathed (because those ions really actually scientifically do a lot of good things for our bodies, including enhance immunity and increase mood…and the disgusting way in which those men ogled made me hyperventilate).
But, the point of this post is none of that. It was a beautiful and energy filled couple hours. My only agenda? Swim. Dunk under as many waves as I could until I tired of that and slapped my body down in the sand like a little kid, no towel, nothing. I thumbed through a chapter of The Secret Garden. Repeated the whole cycle.
I toted a polaroid with me, which is of no surprise to any of you at this point. Instant film has become somewhat of a cult following for my self. I crave it. It is pure magic. No joke. Everything that happens in instant film is a friggin’ miracle. And I have surprised myself in how much it has won me over…how much I see it as ‘real’ film work, not just playful snapshots I can write in sharpie on and pin to my cork board (80’s/90’s kids, can I get an amen?).
So, I’m at Tower 5, no towel, no bag. Literally, a tattered vintage book, a polaroid camera and me in my bathing suit. And it is gorgeous out. So, I walk; past the jetties and the other 4 lifeguard towers to the pier. (Also walking by the joint smokers and the people selling joints and the people drumming up business for the people selling joints…oh, and the people actually drumming…IYKYK OB). The OB pier has been closed off and on for the past 8 months. The construction of the pier and the angle at which it drops down near the middle, makes it susceptible to damage during winter storm conditions. It was reopened in July after fixing some pump issues for the bathrooms near the cafe. Fun fact, when I was in college, friends and I used to come down to the pier during storm surges, stand at it’s lowest point, hang our heads over the railing, hold our breath and hold on for dear life while we were quite literally inside a wave.
Again, none of this is the point. Instant film is a doozy. It is time sensitive and temperature sensitive and light sensitive. It shoots, then spits out, then needs to be covered and not moved while the chemicals do their thing and the paper transforms from all the connection. (DO NOT shake your Polaroids, friends, it is a widely dispersed lie that has damaged millions upon millions of magical images, not to mention potentially flinging toxic chemicals into others faces or the ozone or whatever.). So, I’m on the pier in a wet bathing suit toting a camera (ditched the book on the staircase to have my hands relatively free) and…where do I hide the images as they spit out? Not in my wet bathing suit, not on the pier railing to blow off with the ocean breeze. It just so happens that the Polaroid camera I was using is a boxy one. The one that basically folds up like a cube. So, as you have already figured out, I shot each image, pulled it out, then placed it under the camera itself. Photographers are MacGyvers, let me tell you. Stacking 8 slippery images on top of each other while also trying to fold up and unfold and compose and shoot proved to be a little more cumbersome than I wanted it to be. Not to mention the fishhook I stepped on barefoot near the fish gutting sink while I was taking that cafe shot.
Not the point. But, here are two shots that just didn’t get completely developed properly. (Because, again, proper film storage, temperature, light, motion, etc are all factors that have to work together to create the magic). Most likely this was an issue with the developer in the developing pod on that edge of the film. Yes, that thick white frame at the bottom of a Polaroid actually does something! It’s not just a convenient way to hold it. Also possible that this area of the image was exposed more when being placed under the camera, leaving the lighter edge open to the sunshine and interacting with that developing pod differently than the part that was covered.
Point made. Yes, finally. There are countless unexpected things that can happen when shooting with this film stock. And, yes, that is part of the magic. The unexpected, the beautiful accidents. The interaction with the environment at the time of shooting that gives that one exact image more character. It can never be repeated, duplicated or reprinted. An instant film image is one that records one tiny moment in all the moments of the experiences and exploration of this world we find ourselves in. And it can never be done exactly the same way again.
(And, this series of one pack of film, 8 shots, is in my top 40 at the moment.)