Re: Polaroid Xfers/manipulation?

Robert Hudyma (rhudyma@idirect.com)
Mon, 15 Jul 1996 15:44:42 -0400

At 11:46 PM 7/15/96 +1000, Lori J. Cartmell wrote:

>I've read the FAQ for this list and noted the section on Polaroid image
>transfers--I'm interested in learning more about this technique, as well as
>about Polaroid SX-70 manipulations, which didn't seem to be covered in the
>FAQ.

I noticed that you are from Toronto. You may be interested in a 2 day
workshop that is being offered on Polaroid tranfers at the Toronto Image
Works, July 27 and 28th. The cost is $295 (plus GST) and includes all
materials. The instructor is Evergon, who has extensive experience with
various Polaroid materials including the huge 20"x24".

You can call the Toronto Image Works at (416) 703-1999 or visit their
web site at http://www.magic.ca/tiw (I am posting this for information
purposes only. I have no connection with this Company).

I do recall reading an article on how you manipulate SX-70 images many
years ago. If I recall correctly, the SX-70 film takes a
long time to harden and, before it hardens, you can poke, push, gouge, and
otherwise "mutilate" the image to your creative heart's content. You need
to use the SX-70 material as it is the only film that is soft enough to
do this to. You have to buy an SX-70 camera used; they are not made
anymore. I have seen them available for around $100. I believe
that SX-70 film is still available--but I'm not sure for how much longer
since Polaroid stopped making these cameras many years ago.

To manipulate the image, you can use anything that is strong enough to make
an imprint on the emulsion: spoons, chopsticks, Q-tips, coins, keys, dental
tools etc. etc. You can get several different effects depending on what
instrument you choose to work with and how much pressure you apply.

You can keep the image soft by keeping it hot. A clothes iron on low is
warm enough to soften the print so that you can work on the image for
several hours. Just rest the back of the print onto the faceplate of an
inverted iron long enough to soften the image to the degree that you want.

I saw some flower images that were done this way and subsequently
reproduced as large Cibachromes (now called Ilfochome). These images were
beautiful and looked more like oil paintings than photographs.

Best Regards,

Robert Hudyma, Email: rhudyma@idirect.com,
Semi-Tech Microelectronics, 131 McNabb Street, Markham Ontario Canada, L3R 5V7