Impressionistic Polaroids

When I was around 10 years old I remember watching a local morning news report about Polaroid manipulation. The segment told the story of a guy who had been given a Polaroid camera by his father and "accidentally" found a way to change the photos into mini artwork...

The following pictures are not photoshop'd but instead they are physically manipulated while the polaroid is developing...

Because the emulsion in Polaroids is gelatin-based, and the Mylar covering does not allow water vapor to readily pass, the emulsion stays soft for several days, allowing artists to press and manipulate the emulsion to produce effects somewhat like impressionist paintings.

This is a pretty good video explaining how to manipulate polaroids...

Pretty cool huh?!?

I just bought a old school Polaroid SX-70 off of ebay yesterday (you know I had too). Hopefully I'll have it in my hands next week!!! Although I got the camera for a great deal (cheap as hell), film is gonna cost me a bit of change but in the end it'll be worth it...

****You can only do this w/ the now discontinued (since 2006) SX-70 film. This technique will NOT work w/ the still available (but hard to find) Polaroid 600 film. Just wanted to let you know before you go and start investing in Polaroid equipment like my dumba$$ did...****