So then, that was 2009, eh? How to summarise it?
Um...
Oh yes - in general, photography, and specifically, POLAROID!
At the beginning of the year I had a few cameras: a Nikon D50 was my main workhorse, with my iPhone with me at all times. In a couple of cupboards I had my dad's Nikon FM, unused for years, my first generation Mamiya 646, also unused. No need to use film - digital is where it's at!
Brendan Dawes on twitter mentioned this online store called
PolaPremium which seemed to be selling Polaroid film and cameras, and also about
The Impossible Project who were working on a plan to bring back instant film. Sounded interesting.
Then I went to the new
Photographers' Gallery on Ramillies Street in London, just around the corner from where I work, and saw all the delicious film cameras in their shop, and a wall with Polaroid film for sale. Interesting. Didn't my dad have an old SX-70 lying on a shelf?
And so it began. In the spring I visited my parents in France, with a cartridge of Artistic TZ in my bag. The camera worked fine, and the obsession took hold. He let me take it back with me, just in time for
'Roid Week! (
Here are my pictures from Spring 'Roid Week 09)
I'd already been on
Twitter for a bit, mainly just tweeting amongst friends. 'Roid Week opened that right up introducing me to the Polaroid focal point which is
Anne Bowerman. Anne and her partner
Dave Bias were behind
Save Polaroid. They are the American wing of PolaPremium and The Impossible Project. (Dave also designed the
Medeski Martin and Wood website. My. Favourite. Band. Ever). Anne's tireless work, enthusiasm and encouragement through Twitter and flickr is the glue which joins the new Polaroid community together.
Also through 'Roid Week I found out about
Etsy, again through Anne, but also through the fantastic work of the fantastic
Nancy Stockdale and
Lauren Beacham.
I set up a store, and while sales have been slow, it's great to have an outlet for prints. One of my aims for 2010 is to push my store a bit harder.
So in brief, the world of analogue photography re-opened for me. And this resulted in accumulations... I'm now the proud owner of:
- SX-70
- SX-70 Sonar
- Polaroid Land 250 Automatic
- Polaroid 3000
- Polaroid ProCam
-
Lubitel (which I don't like and will sell)
- Holga
- Polaroid back for the Holga
-
Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim (thanks to Jess Hibbard for being my enabler with that one!)
- Vivitar 3D camera
- Digital Harinezumi
- Olympus Trip 35 waiting to be picked up from the post office.
(click on the links to see the pictures I took)
I may have forgotten one or two cameras in there. Oh, yes, I also upgraded my D50 to a D90, and got a lovely 50mm lens for it. That will do for now, although a Hasselblad and Polaroid 600SE are needed, of course.
As the year went on, I found a wonderful subject for my cameras in Thetford Forest. Shot it with 600 film:
I shot it on Time Zero:
I shot it with Blue Polaroid film:
And on my Vivitar UWS:
And on my Holga:
(
Forest shots here)
I went to France three times:
(
more France shots here)
There was
another 'Roid Week in November...
And it was a year of getting to know many great people through Twitter and Flickr, many fantastic photographers, too many to single out, although special mention goes to
Jeff Hutton who devised his brilliant and generous
Polaroid Giveaway Project, which saw him sending out originals on the condition that recipients posted an image of the Polaroid. I went out on Christmas day to the forest with
his image of the Rockefeller Center in New York (taken on Chocolate film for 'Roid Week in November):
So there you have it! Happy 2010, everybody. May your year be full of exciting and interesting photographs. May mine be full of Impossible Project film!
Jake Messenger
