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When I first got back into film, I used myself to test lighting, composition, facial expressions and everything in between. I shot hundreds and hundreds of selfies trying to learn. What I didn't know is that as I look back at those I was going to be capturing my feelings for that moment. I am enraged, scared, discouraged and embarassed over this past month, as an American and a human. All because of the man who now rules, not runs, our country. I needed somewhere to put that, so I setup my lights and shot a bunch of shots with my #Lomography #LomoInstant #Automat, some using the #CloseUpLens #accessory, all on #FujiFilm #Monochrome #Instax #Mini #film.
Bring it down to one line: „make that Pola burn!“. Sometimes Pictures do not have that extra edge to them, so why not experiment and alter them? The thing with Polaroid of course is, that it is expensive. So you might hesitate to burn them, after all one Pola could easily sum up to one Euro in costs. So I collected some Mini-Instax , done by others at a fair. Therfore it didn’t hurt at all destroying them. I tried some ways of burning and developed some techniques, which I will explain later on. I worked with a lighter, but it could be a good try to use matches as well, then you could draw onto the pictures with the burned tip of the match as well...
You have to keep in mind though, that it is still a slightly dangerous thing to do. Watch out for the black smoke while burning and you better don’t experiment with fire in an easily inflamable enviroment.
Scanning
This scan is pretty 3D. Especially with all the ash falling down and with all that bent pola-paper, but this gives the pictures some very exiting touch. You can really feel them, as they would be in front of you. As the paper is not so flat anymore after burning you should press it down. This is a crunchy and messy thing to do. Because the moment you press the top of the scanner onto the burned pola the ash breaks off the pictures. I would recommend to put a white copypaper between the polaroids and the top of the scanner. It is coil and it would stain your white cover of the scanner-top. You should really thoroughly clean the glas of the scanner and be sure to get rid of all remains to avoid stains on your next scans.
Techniques:
„Reframing“
Ever since people printed photos they have used measures to reframe a picture. Maybe to highlight some part of the picture more than another or sometimes to tell a different story, you might have expected. Nowadays we can also work with uneven structures, why not have awkward edges and parts totally burned out. Everything is possible... with fire.
„Bubbles“
Hence a polaroid is consisting of various layers you can try to burn just the top plastic layer of the Polaroid. This creates some effects. It could be, that the heat makes bubbles or it destroys the top layer and makes a lighter colour-layer visible underneath.
„Holes“
I made the experience, that it is easiest to burn a hole by coming from two sides. You point the flame on a certain dot on the top of the picture and then repeat the same method on the opposite side of the back. Burning on just one side would take ages and also makes the hole too big.
„Hot colour“
I understood, that the colour inside the polaroid becomes hot and fluid when you burn it. You can smear that colour onto another pola or just on any paper and make something creative out of it.
„Gone with the wind“
The good thing with fire is, it is unpredictable. It takes ist room and burns in any direction you cannot plan. Sure you can stir the hunger of the fire in holding the polaroid in a special way. You can also lit the fire at the bottom and the flame goes up.
„Two at a time“
After some burning it might gets boring just to burn one pola at a time. You might put two or more together and burn them. So you can get similar patterns or you use the flame of the one picture to inflame the other. But don’t get too excited and lose it consedering the almighty feeling of holding fire in your hand.
„Shoving“
I like one technique in particular: shoving. Once a pola burns you can use another another Instax or Polaroid to shove into the burning part. So you remove the ash when it is burning and you gain more space. The whole procedure is quicker and more dynamic.
It was a really nice evening with HOLLER MY DEAR and their "the more the merrier" show at Lido, Berlin. During the day, I helped as a kind of volunteer to prepare the set and it was so cool to see it illuminated and with the artists on stage in the evening. Glad, I was able to take my Fuji Instax Mini with me to take some pictures. The more I use that monochromatic instax film, the more I like it. But I wish, there would be more selection possibilities for instax film than the "color" and the "monochrome" as there is for 35mm and 120mm
Here is my first film swap with the great @rolfmg. He exposed the film on his walks and bike rides through the Odenwald.
For my part, I doubled the film on different walks in Berlin.
I think there are a lot of very nice and interesting double exposures.
@rolfmg used a Canon AE 1 and I used a Canon A1, we both exposed the film to ISO 200.
Homeprocess in Rodinal 1 50 for 11 minutes.
Here is my first film swap with the great @rolfmg. He exposed the film on his walks and bike rides through the Odenwald.
For my part, I doubled the film on different walks in Berlin.
I think there are a lot of very nice and interesting double exposures.
@rolfmg used a Canon AE 1 and I used a Canon A1, we both exposed the film to ISO 200.
Homeprocess in Rodinal 1 50 for 11 minutes.
LomoChrome Metropolis is the first new color negative emulsion in over 5 years! At its core lies a unique chemical formula that desaturates the colors, mutes the tones and makes the contrasts pop, specifically developed in our Lomography film manufactory. 📷: Travis Leung
This one time we drove out to the very east on Northkorea to see the International Childrens Camp of Songdowon. Which was a little obscure, because the only kids we saw was a school class how was taken there to admire the camp, the same as we. The rooms and facilities had great western standars, but I thought 'where are the kids?`. Some other details were quite interesting as well. On maps and the globe Korea shows its complete borders, no seperation of North and South, which is the believe of the people in the North. An a interesting bronze statue that I wasn't allowed to photograph from up close that displayed Kim il Sung and Kim jong Il with happy kids from all over the world. Was quite amusing...
This one time we drove out to the very east on Northkorea to see the International Childrens Camp of Songdowon. Which was a little obscure, because the only kids we saw was a school class how was taken there to admire the camp, the same as we. The rooms and facilities had great western standars, but I thought 'where are the kids?`. Some other details were quite interesting as well. On maps and the globe Korea shows its complete borders, no seperation of North and South, which is the believe of the people in the North. An a interesting bronze statue that I wasn't allowed to photograph from up close that displayed Kim il Sung and Kim jong Il with happy kids from all over the world. Was quite amusing...
Taken from a double exposed roll where I shot a whole bunch of sunsets then rewound the film and started again, adding a second layer during a Lomo walk around London.
