Pola - Art
I first learned about “painterly photography” in 1998 shortly before a trip to Europe with a group of students. It involves using an old SX-70 Polaroid camera and Time Zero film. The photographs become “impressionistic-like” paintings when you manipulate the still-fluid emulsion of the picture with an instrument, like a stylus or a toothpick. I was able to swirl the sky, add wonderful light and soften or “wiggle” hard lines. I wasn’t completely satisfied with my first results because the pictures are small (3”x3”) and the color was often not as bright
as I like. When I returned home, I started to experiment. I enlarged the manipulated photos
in my color copier and enhanced the color with pastels. The enlarged and enhanced copy
is now the “original” from which I can then make prints in various sizes, leaving my photos unharmed. I love the results.... I can turn a gray sky blue! All of the manipulation and color enhancement is done by hand, so I become intimately involved in creating my own image,
not just what I see in the camera’s viewfinder. I still carry this camera with me on special trips, but I’m very selective about what I photograph. They don’t make the film anymore
and I only have a few packages left. This is a real loss for those of us who enjoyed creating these “impressionistic photographs” so much. I know that now with our computers, we can
do fabulous things with photographs, and believe me, I love doing that as well. But there is something very satisfying about manipulating a photograph and coloring it by hand.
On the next few pages you will see some of the hundreds of images I have created over
the years using this technique. See Pola-Art Europe, California, Maine and Flowers& Friends.
My originals are not for sale but I do make prints on a high quality paper 7.5 x 7.5 $18
All images are copyright protected.
