I'm not a purist in the strictest sense of the word, coming to photography from a Graphic Design and photoshop retoucher's point of view. With that in mind, for me at least, Polaroids tend to be that frustratingly inconsistent process, using often outdated film and a camera that cannot zoom and decides itself how long it wants to take, the epitome of 'analogue'. A Polaroid then tends to be the picture that was *wrestled* from the moment, and this is what makes a great shot magical. To reduce it to the same level of image-making/manipulation as everything else I do, commercial or for fun, means I may as well have shot on my Leica digital and cropped, adjusted, saturated and vignetted.
Those times I have used a Polaroid image in a design layout that's required it to be manipulated I've simply not thought of it as a polaroid image anymore; but that's really just me...
Never really thought about it. I too don't believe the Polaroid to be sacred and suppose if one desires to cut, trim, color or alter their own prints, it's all good. I'm no purist. I probably did some adolescent hacking with scissors in the 1960's on my family's Polaroids now that I think about it..... I know I did worse; there were the Mantle, Mays, and Koufax ball cards I thought looked much better without the white borders. In hindsight, I could be enjoying a real nice upgrade of gear, had I left them alone. :)
It's not sacred ... It's just a polaroid. :-) As far as cropping is concerned, I just try to do what's best for the image. When I post photos online, I include as much info about the shot so (1) viewers don't feel like they've been misled about the format and any manipulation I've done and (2) others can learn if they're interested. The only time manipulation really bothers me is when people try to pass it off as something it's not.
Interesting that you've made it into a poll. I don't think I've cropped any - but that is probably because the film is so rare and precious that every shot is very considered. ( And even before it was rare it was already expensive)
Ultimately though, for me, its about the image - always in the first instance. Film, digital, photoshopping, polaroid..its about the image..not about maintaining the "integrity". Where do you draw the line ? Should you even scan them and tweak the colours to achieve a satisfactory print ??
Best wishes,
Rhiannon
Jeff - 14 years ago
I agree with anniebee. It's the photographer's art, and theirs to do with as they see fit.
For me personally though, I never crop one, and don't even crop out the frame on a peel-apart. I think (only my personal opinion for my own photos) it takes away some of the essence of what makes a Polaroid magical, but then I am a nostalgic purist. I also like that my approach encourages me to take my time before I press the shutter button knowing I'll expect to utilize the entire image. If I did crop one, it would more likely be a peel-apart than an integral film shot.
anniebee - 14 years ago
(repeating what I said on twitter)...people crop images taken with every other analog film type so why not polaroid? I think we tend to see the image within the white border as sacrosanct but if the medium gets in the way of the message the end result can just be bleh. THAT being said, I don't think I've cropped any of my polaroids but now I want to reexamine some of my of my less than perfect shots to see if there's not a gem hidden within ;)
I'm not a purist in the strictest sense of the word, coming to photography from a Graphic Design and photoshop retoucher's point of view. With that in mind, for me at least, Polaroids tend to be that frustratingly inconsistent process, using often outdated film and a camera that cannot zoom and decides itself how long it wants to take, the epitome of 'analogue'. A Polaroid then tends to be the picture that was *wrestled* from the moment, and this is what makes a great shot magical. To reduce it to the same level of image-making/manipulation as everything else I do, commercial or for fun, means I may as well have shot on my Leica digital and cropped, adjusted, saturated and vignetted.
Those times I have used a Polaroid image in a design layout that's required it to be manipulated I've simply not thought of it as a polaroid image anymore; but that's really just me...
Never really thought about it. I too don't believe the Polaroid to be sacred and suppose if one desires to cut, trim, color or alter their own prints, it's all good. I'm no purist. I probably did some adolescent hacking with scissors in the 1960's on my family's Polaroids now that I think about it..... I know I did worse; there were the Mantle, Mays, and Koufax ball cards I thought looked much better without the white borders. In hindsight, I could be enjoying a real nice upgrade of gear, had I left them alone. :)
It's not sacred ... It's just a polaroid. :-) As far as cropping is concerned, I just try to do what's best for the image. When I post photos online, I include as much info about the shot so (1) viewers don't feel like they've been misled about the format and any manipulation I've done and (2) others can learn if they're interested. The only time manipulation really bothers me is when people try to pass it off as something it's not.
Interesting that you've made it into a poll. I don't think I've cropped any - but that is probably because the film is so rare and precious that every shot is very considered. ( And even before it was rare it was already expensive)
Ultimately though, for me, its about the image - always in the first instance. Film, digital, photoshopping, polaroid..its about the image..not about maintaining the "integrity". Where do you draw the line ? Should you even scan them and tweak the colours to achieve a satisfactory print ??
Best wishes,
Rhiannon
I agree with anniebee. It's the photographer's art, and theirs to do with as they see fit.
For me personally though, I never crop one, and don't even crop out the frame on a peel-apart. I think (only my personal opinion for my own photos) it takes away some of the essence of what makes a Polaroid magical, but then I am a nostalgic purist. I also like that my approach encourages me to take my time before I press the shutter button knowing I'll expect to utilize the entire image. If I did crop one, it would more likely be a peel-apart than an integral film shot.
(repeating what I said on twitter)...people crop images taken with every other analog film type so why not polaroid? I think we tend to see the image within the white border as sacrosanct but if the medium gets in the way of the message the end result can just be bleh. THAT being said, I don't think I've cropped any of my polaroids but now I want to reexamine some of my of my less than perfect shots to see if there's not a gem hidden within ;)
I think everybody has made some good points! Thank you for asking the question. What else would we do on a Sunday anyway.... ;)