Transfers!

As you can probably already tell, I finally have a polaroid camera. I understand that my joy about this probably reeks of wannabe hipster (is there still such things as hipsters anymore?), but I don't care. I've wanted a polaroid camera since third grade when my best friend had one and we used to play with it at the pool.

I just love the instant nostalgia that a polaroid photo has- I'm a sucker for any tool, process, whatever, that can evoke emotion. The nostalgia makes ordinary images become beautiful, because they seem fleeting and intangible. I just love that. There is also a bit of creepiness to a lot of polaroids. I don't know how or why that is, but there are just some photos that just seem, well, kinda creepy. And I love weird stuff like that.

Needless to say, I've been going a bit crazy taking photos. I've also discovered something else fun. You can peel the pictures apart and transfer the emulsion layer from the clear plastic front, to another object.

This photo was successfully transfered.

This was the original image. Kinda crappy.

To do this transfer, you cut off the white stuff, then throw what's left (so the photo) into hot water, then wait until the layers fall apart. When you are able to take all the layers apart, you can very carefully, with a soft brush, peel off the emulsion layer, transfer to cold water, and then on top of another piece of paper. It's a finicky process, but if you are very careful about it, you can get some really cool results. If you're interested in trying it, I suggest starting with polaroids you aren't too happy about, so it doesn't matter if you rip the emulsion layer (this happens easily-like a said, you have to be delicate).

Here is a great video to help you get started:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p7WtPFttNg

This was my first transfer-notice how some parts ripped. I used a boring photo to try it out,

and the transfer really made it look more interesting than the original!

I love it because it is (hopefully) going to allow me to transfer photos on top of other drawings and writings. More experiments to come, which is making me very excited!