Polaroid Week

Ghosts | Kristin Randall

I’ve seen the ghost photoshoot trend for a while now and thought I’d jump on board with my kids. With Halloween coming up and myself being in somewhat of a creative funk, we figured, why not?

So I bought two brand new sheets, sharpied the eyes in for each of my kids, and this series was born!

It went from ghosts in the backyard as test shots to ghosts in the school hallway, ghosts in the food/cooler aisle at my job, and all manner of spooky fun was had. I don’t think we’re quite done with it either, as the kids and I keep coming up with all sorts of locations to snap photos of the ghosts in.

Every photo has been taken with a Polaroid SLR 680 on Polaroid 600 Film with the exception of the boat and the train tracks, those were taken with a Polaroid Go on expired Polaroid Go Film.

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Film photographer Kristin Randall is based in Tennessee. Connect with her and see more of her work on her Flickr and Instagram.

Spring Polaroid Week Roundup | Urizen Freaza

Dear FSC friends, this is Urizen Freaza.


I dislike riding a bike, I can't climb a wall, I hate the idea of bungee jumping, skating sounds counterproductive and the concept of jumping from a plane is the closest I can imagine to a living nightmare. At some point in my life I realized I like to keep my feet touching the ground. Why? No clue. Does it make any sense? Probably not.

In these times of AI synthesized images lurking around every corner, of contradictory misinformation everywhere, of infinite gray areas: there's no one dogma to follow, there's no path in front of us, just a million possibilities. There's somehow comfort in shooting a Polaroid, in looking through the viewer and turning that scene into an object, something in your hands. A Polaroid is evidence, a Polaroid is reality, even if that's just in a tangential, embedded way. It's a link to now or to then, and definitely something certain, that is or was there. Even if manipulated, scratched, painted, lifted, even when that's not even part of the message or relevant for the intent, Polaroids are real.

I like my Polaroids just as I like my feet touching the ground.


Here's again a respectfully imperfect roundup of the photos tagged with #fscpolaroid on instagram during Spring Polaroid Week 2023. Please go check the artists’ profiles, and if you like what you see, follow them and show them love. And most importantly, check out the Polaroid Week pool on Flickr, on Twitter, and on Instagram .

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Urizen Freaza was born in Tenerife in 1982 and is since 2010 based in Berlin. He's a self-taught photographer and film-maker. Self-taught meaning that this is a path he's still walking, while hoping there is always more path to walk. He's a member of the Film Shooters Collective and part of the team behind the analogueNOW! festival in Berlin. See more of his work on his website and on Instagram.

Spring Polaroid Week 2022 | Urizen Freaza

Dear FSC friends, this is Urizen Freaza.

Polaroid Week and this roundup always make me think about what's so special about instant photography. The first time someone asked me why I shot polaroid, I didn't know what to reply. At the time analogue was supposed to be dead and all this stuff was hipster nonsense that people did to make themselves feel special. And this is what my friend thought I was doing. And I hated that. As one of those 'wit of the staircase' moments, I believe this is why I keep obsessively asking myself this question: 'why polaroid?' Even today. So next time I might have a better answer (at least better than none).

My answer today is: anticipation.

Apparently, research has shown that anticipating a holiday you are planning brings you more joy than remembering the actual holiday after it happened. If you think about it, it's not surprising at all. Happiness is in the waiting room to happiness, they say.

And well, there is for sure no anticipation in a digital snapshot, nor in any other aspect of modern life (I'm sounding here like I'm 100 years old). There's not even a split of a quantum of a moment between taking the shot, turning around whatever the screen, and seeing it. It means nothing. A polaroid #1. costs a fortune and #2. forces you to... *wait*.

Oh those agonizing minutes! It is work! Sweaty emotional work! Will something appear? Is it underexposed? What did I mess up this time? The focus, the framing? And that polaroid is not fully as you expected, it feels almost as if it never is! But sometimes, yes, just sometimes, it's better than you ever could have imagined.

That's magic, that's happiness.

Here's again a respectfully imperfect roundup of the photos tagged with #fscpolaroid on instagram during Spring Polaroid Week 2022. Please go check the artist's profiles, and if you like what you see, follow them and show them love. And most importantly, check out the Polaroid Week pool on Flickr, on Twitter, and on Instagram .

Connect

Urizen Freaza was born in Tenerife in 1982 and is since 2010 based in Berlin. He's a self-taught photographer and film-maker. Self-taught meaning that this is a path he's still walking, while hoping there is always more path to walk. He's a member of the Film Shooters Collective and part of the team behind the analogueNOW! festival in Berlin. See more of his work on his website and on Instagram.