black and white polaroids

This photograph is the first formal polaroid in my portfolio.

Although I love regular polaroids, and have been shooting them for quite a while, I wanted some of them to be a bit larger than the standard 3" x 3" image area. Not knowing what would result from scanning an already imperfect image, I scanned this shot at high resolution, enlarged it to 5"x5" (image area, not white border), slightly cropped the subject, and converted it to black and white.

The result was an incredibly rewarding process. Not only was I able to successfully convert a polaroid to a larger photograph, the black and white conversion really showcased the imperfections without degrading the original image.

"...will I ever enlarge a polaroid beyond 5" x 5" ?"

I'd like to try for 8" x 8" but I don't think it would be smart to try for anything larger than that; I'm not even convinced 8" x 8" will be successful. But in all honesty, I don't know if it would be a good idea to even try. I mean one of the great qualities of a polaroid is the small, almost pocket size dimensions. Although I didn't go too much larger with my print, I don't think taking it farther would be worthwhile...it could really take away from the origins of the photograph.

subject: building and power lines
location: Occoquan, VA



{edit}
After letting the photo sit for a few days, I realized I wasn't happy with the cropping so I re-edited the photograph and uploaded the new crop. It's still 5" x 5" but with a little less of the brick building and secondary building.

© 2008 joe blend. All rights reserved.

coincidental polaroid...

So I shot this polaroid of a low clearance sign. What I thought was interesting was the fact that it was attached to the edge of the roof of a small building that resembled a residential structure. Within a couple of days after taking the photograph I encountered a few things that related to height...

"...I found out I'm actually 5' 11 3/4" tall, not 6' 3/4" as I'd previously thought, I read a header in YahooNews that referenced the world's tallest man, &...(ok, there was a third tidbit of experience that I can't remember so I'll post it when I remember it)

This is not by any means a profound post. I just thought it was interesting how a few instances by themselves were insignificant but when combined, created an interesting connection.

© 2008 joe blend. All rights reserved.

the beauty of the polaroid

You might be asking yourself "why should an illustrator care about a camera?"

That's a good question, I asked myself the same thing when I picked up my polaroid camera the other day and spent $12 on film for 20 shots. I've known for a while that I wanted to use photography in my illustration work but I hadn't fine tuned the approach to the point where I felt comfortable putting some work out into the world. As a former fine art photographer I knew that I didn't want my shots to have too much realism and I certainly didn't want the perfection of a digital camera. On a recent trip to pick up coffee at my favorite coffee shop, I drove out to Old Town Leesburg (in Virginia) and figured I'd snap a few instant pics while I was out there...just to see what happens. I left the town with about 8 shots, about half of which had nice compositions and the best lighting/contrast that could be expected. For those of you that have ever shot with a polaroid instant camera, you know how difficult it is to crop in camera and obtain reasonable lighting conditions! But that's why I chose a polaroid camera instead of a digital camera; the slightly out of focus image, the slightly desaturated subject, the expected and unexpected imperfections.

In addition to my Leesburg shots, I took some shots around my apartment and then got to work on fine tuning my illustration approach using photography. Of course, I ruined half of the photos and left a few teetering on the fence between perfect and "headed for the trash" but there were a few that made it to final artwork status.

Having said that, here are two pieces that I consider to be finished...

subject/concept: "what's missing?..."
materials: pen and prismacolor marker on polaroid film




subject/concept: "it's still winter"
materials: pen and prismacolor marker on polaroid film



I have about six others that I'm still working on so I'll post those when they're complete.

© 2008 joe blend. All rights reserved.

abstractExcercise 1.07

This type of post will show random drawings, studies, or experiments that either led to final work or were nothing more than fun excercises. I'll post more of these as I get a chance to scan them. It's interesting to see what each of these contribute to in terms of future projects.


polaroid of a shower with illustration




study of plants and various items on my balcony




study of a rock found in South Dakota




experiments with typography



All work © 2008 joe blend. All rights reserved.