POLAROID TRANSFERS AND LIFTS
Polaroid cameras and instant photography have been around since the late 1940's. Although Polaroid cameras were initially intended to simply be a way to retrieve your photos faster, their are many other things you can do with Polaroids. Two techniques that you can achieve using Polaroids and Polaroid film are transfers and lifts, each with their own unique styles. Transfers involve printing an image from a slide of film, using a slide printer, onto Polaroid film and then transferring it onto a piece of watercolour paper. The end result is has a vintage sort of look. A Polaroid lift involves setting a Polaroid in water and transferring the emulsion layer onto a piece of watercolour paper, leaving a wrinkled image.
Before I got started on the real transfer and lift, I practiced completing digital versions of both techniques. This prepared me for the traditional transfer and lift as it showed me what to expect and the particular look I should be going for:
DIGITAL POLAROIDS (before and after)
transfer:
lift:
My traditional Polaroid transfer and lift were much harder than the digital versions. The lift in particular required extreme concentration and patience. If I had more time, I would have loved to complete another lift:
TRADITIONAL POLAROIDS
transfer:
lift:
Extra/unsuccessful Polaroids and transfers:
Of course, with any type of photography project, there were many unsuccessful attempts that helped to teach me what I was doing wrong.
