Where low tech and high tech wreck on the freeway of life...
I'm always on the lookout for stuff that peaks my creativity. How many people do you know still building wooden hydroplanes to haul behind bicycles? Well now you know at least one. Taken a picture of State Route 520 after dark with a $25 plastic camera? Done that too. I've thought of countless - and sometimes senseless - ways to do mundane tasks, and jury-rigged my way out of a fair share of pickles by thinking outside the box. I'm not saying what I do is original or even unique; but I'll guarantee that I may have a different take on life in many aspects.
Photography - by art and by device - is ever changing; as technology advances, the world is moved towards easier and faster solutions when taking pictures. But hold on there...we had a solution right under our noses for decades, in the form of the "Land Camera," better known as the Instant. Imagine seeing a picture you just took with your camera in a mere five minutes; even in the 1980s that was astounding and cool. Sure, the picture quality was nothing like a 35mm photo; it had streaks, scuffs, and weird coloring. A picture taken of David and me on Father's Day 2002 has a very strange contrast that I can't even imagine duplicating. Still the format has many fans for many reasons. One of those reasons may not have been considered before...
While I was never much of an "Instant Camera" fan back in the day, I see now that Polaroids and other instant cameras of the past gave rise to the current notion of immediate gratification; "I want to see it now." Such an idea - hugely part of our modern society - is now firmly in the lens of digital photography, and the era of the Polaroid ended presumably when the company quit making the film in early 2008. Not to be left in the dark, fans and Instant film enthusiasts bought the European factory that made the film and set out to create a modern derivative of the old Polaroid film by the end of 2010. But for the time being - unless you own one of the offshore Fuji instants that haven't been offered in the US - low tech instant fans are left to satiate their need for immediate gratification with camera phones and other digital products that have the ability to share the shot at once.
So given that, what could be better than a camera phone that gives you the ability to shoot on the fly at lower-than-standard quality? How about sharing that same lower-than-standard shot in the form of a Polaroid? Recently I found out about Poladroid, which duplicates the framing, color, and quality of Polaroid photos - all in free software. The picture you see above is a `droid shot, taken with my trusty Cingular 2125 camera phone on Labor Day 2009, and then run through Poladroid. The software even makes the "Click WhiRRRRRR" sound of the instant camera - which David finds "irritating" - and then places a thumbnail image on your computer that slowly "develops" from brown to an image in about 5 minutes. Snazzy!
Here's what really catches me. This represents a technology turnaround. What's old is being duplicated with new tools, and giving nearly the same low-tech effect. It's sort of like those blue jeans you see movie stars wearing...the ones that are aged, torn, and $375. As much as people want to believe that newer 45o-MagoogaPixel cameras are the way to document American life, there is still a strong - and vocal - contingent of photographers who hang onto the low tech life. Many embrace an art form that cannot be duplicated with $2600 cameras. Many like me cannot afford the advances in technology, ones that would allow the convenience and the added worry of carrying a camera that is worth more than my truck. And all enthusiasts for the low tech brand will agree: "the shots have spirit."
See for yourself in the embedded slide show below. If you don't see it, click HERE to view the photo set at Flickr!
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