OUR NEW THEME FOR 2008 - out soon
If you’re stuck in a rut and there’s nothing to shoot. If you feel like you’ve been there done that and there’s nothing new under the sun. If your city looks a bit too familiar and the streets are dull. If you already know it’s not about doing it right but doing it your way. If you like trying new ideas and are not afraid of experimenting;
you are probably ready to rest your sophisticated digital camera on the shelf and go for something new.
Get yourself a polaroid camera
Polaroid is such a strange entity and probably the most bizarre choice for street photography. It is bulky, it is loud, there are instant images to take care of on the move and possibly the worst thing about applying Polaroid in Street photography is that everybody out there seems to stop and watch the polaroid-grapher do his thing. So why should I use a Polaroid, you might ask? (Good question!) Well, obviously because a Polaroid is much FUN and a refreshing change from the conventional, humorless and tired world of photography. Sometimes I can’t help but thinking some people just forgot how to have fun with photography. They are very serious about the camera they must use, and often they are concerned with different technical issues they've heard so much about. It varies from the type of film they need, to how much post processing is acceptable, to basically how photography should be done. Occasionally it seems to me their aim is to simply make their viewers happy… So, not that it is wrong to take yourself seriously, just make sure you don’t forget along the way why you went into photography in the first place (hint: fun). By the way, Polaroids are a great material to paint, draw or write on, use in a collage, liven up your gloomy journal, and pretty much any other ideas you might come up with.
Get yourself Time-Zero film
…and the sooner the better. Yes, it’s true, Time-Zero film had been discontinued by Polaroid; however, it is still possible to find the film in stores and online, so you can to stock up enough to enjoy it for a while. Time-zero film works with SX-70 Polaroid cameras, but with some very simple tweaking can be shot with the common 600 Polaroid which can be found in every drug store. Time-zero is a unique film since the gelatin part of the film stays soft for several hours and so can be manipulated, which is done by applying pressure to the emulsion using blunt tools and basically moving it around. The result of such manipulation often blurs the difference between a photograph and a painting, and in fact gives the photograph a painterly look. You can manipulate these Polaroids "on location" (best if done in a sunny place) or take them home and place in the freezer until you’re ready to work on the image. All you need to do then is warm it up with a hair dryer or a hot plate and voila! The picture is as fresh and toasty as if you just took it today. This type of image is great to document the streets and our ordinary urban life as it transforms every simple scene into a cool one.
Get yourself a Holga
The Holga is IT! For about R500.00 you get yourself a plastic camera which will truly allow you to finally break free of the correctness in photography. This innocent looking toy might actually be the best choice for street photography: there are no settings to hassle with, no focus or f-stop, so it’s easier to shoot on the move and keep up with the fast pace of the streets. And maybe its best trait is that the Holga just doesn’t look like a real camera, definitely not a serious one, so people just tend to ignore it and go about their business. (Doesn’t this camera remind you of these toy cameras which spray water on the unsuspected victim?) One of the cool things about the Holga is that you can try all kinds of weird ‘tricks’ and since there isn’t really a correct way of using a Holga, anything goes… for example, you can advance the film between exposures only half way to purposely get a two in one image, or at least claiming you did… And of course the Holga’s most recognized feature – the double exposure although most double exposures done with a Holga are accidental; The Holga does not automatically advance to the next picture and as a result the double exposure is just bound to happen every so often. Another fun thing to try with a Holga is making panorama images. Unlike panoramas taken with other cameras, with a Holga there’s no need to stitch the images together on the PC, the whole stitching thing is done directly on the negative. And it’s a Holga! Meaning the panorama doesn’t have to be perfect, actually probably better that it isn’t :) And finally one tricky thing about the Holga is shooting at night. See, since the Holga doesn’t have a light meter or a real shutter speed and F stop settings you find yourself at the mercy of your film’s speed. (Which by the way is 120 film) (just another bonus!) The new Holga has the most advanced feature; the B exposure. Sounds great, no? However, the way it really works is that you need to press the shutter release button for as long as you want your exposure to be. Not to mention the pain and suffering your poor finger must go through, it is also impossible to hold your breath or keep steady for too long and even if you rest your camera on something, there will still be that horrible camera shake (the ugly cousin of the attractive motion blur). This is where your choice of film can help you. If you don’t mind long exposures go for the 400ASA film and expose your film in the average lit area for about 30-40 seconds! 800ASA will allow you to cut down your exposure time to a good 10-15 seconds. But at last you will see the light when you use 3200 ASA which tolerates an exposure of somewhere between 1-3 seconds. Yippee!
Get yourself a Holgaroid
If you’re a fan of both Holga and a Polaroid you can get yourself a Polaroid back for your Holga and you’ve got yourself a Holgaroid. Sounds great, no? Like Homer would have said: “mmmm…. Instant Holga images!” life doesn’t get any better than that… or does it? The Holgaroid is by far the most challenging camera I’ve ever seen. To start with, the Polaroid back covers the view finder so you just have to ‘shoot in the dark’ like this. Another issue to handle is the fact the Holga is at it’s best with a 400ASA film, however, the Polaroid film for this camera, a peel-apart type 80, is either 80 or 100 ASA which are simply too slow for the Holga or 3000 ASA which is not appropriate for daylight shooting. And maybe the most annoying part about this camera is the need to carefully handle a very sensitive film which needs time to develop without being shaken and then a print which needs enough time to dry or it might be damaged. This is a great challenge to accomplish while shooting on the move. So unlike other cameras that you can happily take along with you, just like you take your car keys or cellular phone, unlike these wonderful easy going cameras, the Holga-Polaroid actually takes you along with her. This bulky looking camera just demands all your attention and affection and won’t be completely satisfied until you are on your knees begging for one good picture. So why are you even going to bother with this camera? Because of the end result; because when it works (once in a blue moon) the pictures are simply artistically unique!
Give cross processing a chance
Cross-processing simply means shooting slide film but instead of processing it in the standard E6 chemicals it is processed in the “wrong” chemicals like C41 chemicals which are normally used for processing negative film (and vice versa). As you can see, it produces interesting and unexpected colors, higher level of contrast and lots more grain. Different types of slide film will react differently when cross-processed so it’s probably a good idea to try a few of them before settling on your favorite effect. Assuming that you don’t have a color lab at home, cross processing will probably take place in your local (professional) lab so all you really need to do is find colorful, interesting scenes and shoot them, keeping in mind that even the most ordinary scenes can end up looking pretty extraordinary.
Give multiple exposures a chance
If your camera has a multiple exposure button here is another thing that can be fun to try on your next street expedition. Take 2, 3 or even 4 images in the same frame and see what you get. Best if you choose simple but colorful subjects. When you graduate from multiple exposure school try combining it with some fine cross processing. It can get pretty wild!
Give extreme scanning a chance
Okay, don’t now go looking up Extreme Scanning in the dictionary; it’s just a term I came up with to describe a technique I developed (it actually developed itself) while scanning my negatives. So this is how it’s done: You begin with an already scratched up/ neglected negative and skip the cleaning up part (as you can tell it is a very good method for the lazy among us). You then play with the scanner’s settings (contrast, color balance etc.) until you like what you see and then you scan away. Another helpful way of achieving some interesting results is scanning a color negative with the settings set to black and white. The result is a nice sepia tone.
Ok, enough!
Now shut down this computer, open your door,
get out there and make a few great pictures.
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