© 2005 Rob Gardiner
Why polaroids?
I shoot mostly Polaroid Type 55. This is a special type of polaroid film that gives both a positive print, like most polaroids, but also a very nice negative. Because the ISO of the positive (iso 80) is different to the negative (iso 30) I usually the positive is usually overexposed so I throw that away and keep the negative. The negative can and does get damaged very easily, and the developing chemicals often smear across the negative and give strange results. I like this unpredicatability very much, and actively try to use film that expired 5-10 years ago as the effect can be more pronounced.
The Type 55 I use in a 4x5 pinhole camera. Pinhole cameras are really just a tiny hole in a wooden box. So there is no lens or any electronics of course. My 4x5 pinhole does have a ground glass back so I can vaguely compose under a dark cloth but the 'viewing pinhole' is also tiny and what ends up on film is very much up to chance. The camera is only about 1" deep, giving a very wide angle, so looks very strange to passers-by. It is fitted with cheap bellows to give a longer focal length but I rarely do that.
I find that Polaroid 55 film and pinhole cameras have some common characteristics you might not expect at first. They give a feeling both of sharpness and creaminess, somehow dreamlike and very three dimensional at the same time, and both give surprising effects. Pinhole photos are magical, you let light come through a tiny hole and you've captured an image forever. Polaroid is equally as magical, an instant print long before digital was invented.
Rob Gardiner
