Judy McGuire. Polaroid: Amateur Porn of My Youth.

McGuire, Judy. Polaroid: Amateur Porn of My Youth. Seattle Weekly. 19/02/2008. Available online at: http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-02-20/diversions/dirty-pictures/.

My first live-in boyfriend and I had quite the collection of homemade hard-core Polaroid porn. We were so young and cute back then...I still remember our breakup—both of us sitting at the kitchen table, solemnly slicing the photos into bits so that neither of us could use them for blackmail later on.

I'm also not embarrassed to admit that I've used the Polaroids as sort-of trophies: the first boy I got with after a long dry spell—snapped, so I could look back when I was feeling down and know it was possible for me to bag cute guys.

While these quotes are somewhat dated now, especially considering the imminent revival of what was previously thought impossible, what I find interesting is the way in which the physicality - and a permanence through durability - is indicated by 'slicing the photos into bits...'. Not mentioned explicitly here is the singularity of the medium: if this was analog film the post would need to discuss the location and destruction of the negative, and if the images were digital... imagine, a couple slumped over a computer screen going through the hard drive, flickr account, facebook page and deciding which images to delete - and hoping no-one has copied (and pasted) any of them!

The Polaroid as trophie is something that I have mentioned / quoted on before. The question that springs to mind here is how notions of the (photographic) trophie differs (if, indeed, it does) between the digital and the analog?  

Notes toward achieving a greater understanding of the postcard.

Notes toward achieving a greater understanding of the postcard #1.

# 1 - 10 are available to download for printing in the download section.

Postcards from the North exhibition. Notes toward achieving a greater understanding of the postcard.

New (and non-Polaroid) work, Notes toward achieving a greater understanding of the postcard (# 1-10) will form part of the Postcards of the North group exhibition on the 17th February. At Horus & Deloris Contemporary Art Space: http://www.horusanddeloris.com.au/. Level 2, 102 Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont, New South Wales, 2009.

Mic Wright. The Impossible Project.

Wright, Mic . The Impossible Project. Wired. December 2009. pp144-151.

[Kapps] "It was the perfect medium. It is the most analogue film - it develops in the palm of your hand. It also has a lot of the advantages of digital - its an instant picture. But it is more than just a picture. A lot of emotions are attached to it. (p146)

The mask, the iconic white frame that makes a Polaroid instant shot unmistakable, is metallised and  has to be heat- and friction-resistant to withstand the force of the camera's rollers. (p150-151) 

The preference for colour tones in Polaroid pictures is not only personal but cultural. At one time, Polaroid had different machines producing different formulations to account for regional preferences. "A blueish tint on people's faces makes them look like chickens in a freezer," says Bosman. "But if you ship film to Japan, looking reddish suggests you're drunk, so they prefer skin tones to look more blue than red."(p151)

Update on 08 02 2010 by S. Cousin

As Mic mentions, the article is also available online: http://www.wired.co.uk/wired-magazine/archive/2009/12/features/the-impossible-project-reviving-instant-photography.aspx?page=all). The post has now been corrected.

And his own site is at: http://brokenbottleboy.tumblr.com/.

Slavoj Žižek. Post-wall.

Žižek, Slavoj. Post-wall. London Review of Books. Volume 31. Number 22. 19/11/2009. p10.

The nostalgia for Communism shouldn't be taken for too seriously: far from expressing an actual wish to return to a grey socialist reality; it is a form of mourning, of gently getting rid of the past.

The above quote reminded me of Paul Virilio's discussion of The World of Bodies exhibition, in which he argues that, rather than bringing people closer to the physicality, the biology, and understanding of the human, it was a 'farewell'. 

In relation to the integral photograph it could be argued that our nostalgia (and a nostalgia for that which has not yet passed...) is a coming to terms, a 'mourning', a gentle 'getting rid of the past'.

alexanpv. Polaroid Landscapes and Polaroid Landscapes... again.

There are a couple of interesting posts on Polaroids, Tarkovsky and Landscape at the blog http://experimentalgeographies.wordpress.com/.

It’s been a long time since I handled a polaroid camera. There is something about the particular way in which they seem to offer access to an immediate present that I really miss. While there has been plenty of ink spilled recently about the contemporary emergence of large scale tableau-sized photographs, the modest artefactual quality of the polaroid would seem to solicit a form of beholding that merits further critical attention in its own right.  
http://experimentalgeographies.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/polaroid-landscapes/.

The subsequent post is at:
http://experimentalgeographies.wordpress.com/2009/10/04/polaroid-landscapes-again/

Sculptural notations (1) - via issuu.

sculptural notations (1): an exploration in distribution methods for polarama: a visual journal of integral photography. Also available in the download section.

Submissions still open. polarama: a visual journal of integral photography.

Contact or email direct: seancousin@gmail.com with a link and/or a selection of images. Questions? Please get in touch. More details: polarama: a visual journal of integral photography.

Sam Yanes. Photography changes the ways we interact with and make pictures of each other.

Yanes, Sam. Photography changes the ways we interact with and make pictures of each other. From 'Click! Photography changes everything.' Available online at: http://click.si.edu/Story.aspx?story=616.

The SX-70's design and self-contained processes promoted the democratic notion that every person has the opportunity to become an artist, once the technical obstacles to that art are removed. The act of taking a photograph—thinking about it, choosing the exact moment to press the shutter, then immediately seeing, then reacting to the result—is an artistic and educational process that suits professionals and amateurs alike.

He goes on to note the collaborative nature of SX-70 photography via the use of the camera-sound:

... the noise of the camera seemed like a reassuring handshake or hug, a sound that symbolized the collaboration between photographer and the person being photographed.

Update on 03 02 2010 by S. Cousin

The possibilities of collaboration afforded by the instantaneous manner of image development - while no-doubt taken for granted with digital image production -   was something utilised in much of my own work; especially projects undertaken with A. Cresswell. 

Presentations.