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Polaroids from New Mexico
I spent a week in New Mexico with Lisa and her family in March. While I was there, I took nearly 100 polaroids, using an automatic Polaroid 600 and a “manual” Polaroid Land 100 camera.
I finally uploaded my best photos to Flickr. Here’s a slideshow of my New Mexico polaroids.
Created with flickrSLiDR.
No More Polaroid Film?!?!?!?!?!
I am speechless. It kind of feels like I’ve been kicked in the gut. Polaroid is stopping production of all its film. No more Polaroid film.
When Polaroid users pulled a picture out of their cameras, an image would slowly appear before their eyes. Now, like the process in reverse, the image of the Polaroid instant camera — dimming for years — has finally gone black.Polaroid, based in Waltham, Mass., is shutting down factories in the United States and abroad as the company abandons the technology that made the instant photo possible, the Boston Globe reported yesterday. The company will cease production of its film by next year.
The artsy, instantly gratifying Polaroid images, reeking of processing chemicals, have finally been done in by endless Flickr Web pages full of digital images, flawlessly produced by cameras that do not require film, emulsion or anything bigger than a shirt pocket to carry them around.
I don’t know what to do. How can I amass a 60-year supply of Polaroid film within the next year?
I take exception to blaming Flickr for the demise of Polaroid. If anything, I think Polaroid’s had a revival from Flickr; the site even hosts an annual ‘Roid Week in honor of the film.
This is an insane idea: could there be a grassroots movement to save Polaroids? Is that as futile as saving 8-track production? To me, this feels like the first time the grasp of technology has killed something I love. I’m being way melodramatic right now.
SavePolaroids.com is available. Just sayin’.
2008 DCist Exposed Exhibition
One of my photos has been selected to appear in this year’s DCist.com Exposed Exhibition of DC-area photographers. The photo at right, creatively titled “trumpet,” was taken at local jazz club HR-57.
The exhibition opens at a Penn Quarter gallery on March 7, where this photo will appear (for sale) with selections from several dozen other folks. I’m pretty excited, as this is my first exhibition in a couple of years. I’ll share more info as it becomes available!
Polaroid Zen
For the last four months or so, I’ve been using an old Polaroid 660 as my only camera. My two-year-old digital camera can no longer focus, and I don’t want to pay for both 35mm film, processing, and putting the photos onto a CD. I’m also lazy and want instant gratification.
My goal with the Polaroids has been to capture scenes as I would with a normal camera, and let the nature of a Polaroid photo add its own thing to what I frame for the shot.
I just added what I think are my favorite Polaroids to date – and I have a 3” high stack of them on my desk. You can see them at my polaroid page.
A little something about me.
In addition to naming two animals after members of the Wu Tang Clan, my hard drives have a similar nomenclature:
In addition, the first new Wu Tang in 6 years comes out December 11, one week after a new Ghostface album. Says RZA: “How can hip-hop be dead if Wu-Tang is forever?”
Rap Analogies
Sean and I were listening to some Dre tracks last night, and I thought of this analogy that I wanted to demonstrate.’
Eminem’s verse : Dre’s verse on “Forgot About Dre”
::
Obie’s verse : Eminem’s verse on “Drips”
In each case, the younger’s artist verse is solid: the verses flow with the beat and there are some impressive lines. But the older rapper spits that much better in both songs. It’s rare that you find songs where the younger can be comparable to the older, as Eminem and Obie are on their respective songs.
But Dre’s last verse on “Forgot About Dre” is ridiculous (“I was strapped with gatts while you were cuddling a cabbage patch”), and Eminem just kills his verse on Drips.
I don’t know if that makes sense, especially if you’re not used to hearing what Drips is actually about. But it was a bit of a breakthrough for me.
Nas was right. Hip hop is dead.
Snoop Dogg at a Ducks Game
Blake just sent me an amazing video of an interview with Snoop Dogg at an Anaheim Ducks game intermission. His son wanted to go see hockey, and Snoop “likes the way they skate on the ice all swift-like.”
I think that if Snoop can become and stay a fan of hockey, he could help popularize hockey in America again. This could be especially true now that the Ducks have won the 2007 Stanley Cup.
More of this, please!
Music: Kanye West's New Mixtape Isn't Too Bad
Kanye West was the first artist I listened to on my way to becoming a rap / hip-hop fan a couple of years ago. I loved College Dropout, but thought the next one was pretty “meh.” Did he come out with another one after that? I don’t even know.
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