It's Roid Week! (Friday)

Untitled, a photo by Hilary (curioush) on Flickr.

Roid Week is a celebration of instant film, on Flickr. See all about it (and other people's photos) here.

This photo was taken on S. Jefferson Ave. in south St. Louis.

I used a Holga camera with a Polaroid back (affectionately known as a Holgaroid), with Polaroid Type 89 pack film (which is no longer made and past its expiration date by a few years, so I keep my last few remaining packs in the fridge for special occasions, like Roid Week!)

It's Roid Week! (Tuesday)

Untitled, a photo by Hilary (curioush) on Flickr.

Roid Week is a celebration of instant film, on Flickr. See all about it (and other people's photos) here.

This photo was taken on S. Jefferson Ave. in south St. Louis.

I used a Holga camera with a Polaroid back (affectionately known as a Holgaroid), with Polaroid Type 89 pack film (which is no longer made and past its expiration date by a few years, so I keep my last few remaining packs in the fridge for special occasions, like Roid Week!)

It's Roid Week! (Monday)

Untitled, a photo by Hilary (curioush) on Flickr.

Roid Week is a celebration of instant film, on Flickr. See all about it (and other people's photos) here.

This photo was taken on Chippewa Ave. in south St. Louis, not far from my house.

I used a Holga camera with a Polaroid back (affectionately known as a Holgaroid), with Polaroid Type 89 pack film (which is no longer made and past its expiration date by a few years, so I keep my last few remaining packs in the fridge for special occasions, like Roid Week!)

Village Chippewa

Untitled, a photo by Hilary (curioush) on Flickr.

St. Louis, Missouri, USA
shot with a Holgaroid

Photo refresh at Firecracker Press

 (inside the Firecracker Press. Isn't it beautiful?  Smells great too -- I love the scent of print-making.  Go have a look.  And a sniff.)

The Firecracker Press on Cherokee Street has been kind enough to carry some of my photos for sale for the past few years.  On Saturday I stopped by to swap out the photos that I had there with all Cherokee Street-related photos.  Many from the late, beloved, be-missed Globe Drugs.

The photos below are among those I've got at Firecracker now.  If you are in the neighborhood, pop in and take a peek!

 



Other places where you can find my photos for sale.

"Right this instant" event this Sunday at Urban Eats

Yesterday I knocked over what seemed like an entire bucket of salsa in my refrigerator—what a great opportunity to clean out the fridge! (Sometimes I need a little salsa crisis to spur me into action.)

What worried me the most about this was the stockpile of Polaroid film I've got chillin' like Bob Dylan in there.

Polaroid Corporation stopped manufacturing film several years ago, so as each type that I use was being phased out, I bought up as much as I could. I try to save it mostly for things that I know will be well-suited for the medium—some of the colors of one type really lend themselves to intense skies, for instance. And type 669 is used for Polaroid transfers (see example above. See more about the process here.)

I think I got the Polaroid boxes cleaned up quickly enough that there will be no lasting salsa scars, but I was a little wistful when I saw how small my pile of Polaroid film is getting. It won't last forever, even in the refrigerator, so I put some of it to use recently in preparation for my current show at Urban Eats, "Right this instant." I've got traditional Polaroid photos in the show, as well as Polaroid transfers and emulsion lifts, and Holgaroids, photos made with a Holga camera with a Polaroid back.

The show is hanging up throughout May, and I'll be at Urban Eats this Sunday, May 23, from 11:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m. Come say "hi"! (There will be food and drinks for sale in the cafe. And while you're at it, see work from Angie Griffith, Naomi Silver, Thomas Shepherd and the PPRC Photography Project. You can download a flyer with more information on all the artists here.)

Hope to see you Sunday!

Urban Eats Cafe (enter Urban Arts Collective through the cafe)

3301 Meramec St (at Virginia)

St Louis, MO 63118

PS. There is a company that is trying to revive some Polaroid film. Learn more about it here.

'Roid Week + 'Roid Month

Over the weekend I put up my new show at Urban Eats, "Right this instant," which features images I've made with Polaroid film.

You might have heard that Polaroid film has been discontinued. It has been, for the most part, although Fuji still manufactures some instant film, and there is a new project that is bringing back some of the integral Polaroid films.

Unfortunately there don't seem to be any plans to revive Type 89 film, which was just about my favorite. Its vivid colors are a great match for the wacky Holga camera—when they're paired together there's no telling what they'll come up with. The photo above was taken with my Holgaroid (as the Frankenstein-ish combination of the Holga with a Polaroid back is affectionately known.) I've got a little bit of the film left, stored in my fridge a vault under heavy surveillance.

I only get it out for special projects now, onaccounta I don't have much left. When I decided to do the Urban Eats shows, I knew I had to get a photo of this building with the Holgaroid. I pass it every day on my way to work and always mean to snap a photo. It's so so so blue. Finally on a day that the skies were looking extra sky-ish I remembered to pack the Holgaroid and took this.

It was hanging in Urban Eats in my last show ("Sign Language") and it's still there (although not in a starring role) for the May show. 

Anyway.

We are in the midst of 'Roid Week 2010. This is an unofficial celebration of Polaroid film on Flickr (and elsewhere? not sure), so I'm busting out some recent Polaroids, which are on my mind due to working with them a lot in the past few weeks for "Right this instant."

My artist's reception for "Right this instant" is Sunday, May 23, 11:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m.  Come grab a bite to eat and say hi!

Polaroids

Originally uploaded by Hilary (curioush)

I took this in my kitchen the other day. With a Polaroid SX-70. A wonderful camera. I only picked one up a while after Polaroid discontinued its film, unfortunately.

You can use (the fairly common) 600 film in it, but it takes a bit of adjustment, and it still lacks the qualities of the original film. And now that Polaroid has discontinued all film production, 600 is becoming harder to find.

Good news for Polaroid may be on the horizon. There are reports that integral* film may come back into production, if The Impossible Project comes to fruition. Yay!



* e.g., 600, SX-70. The kind that the camera spits out in one piece. The "shake it like a Polaroid picture" kind. Pack film -- the two-part kind used in Holgaroids and for Polaroid transfers and emulsion lifts -- is still a goner. For now, at least.