Monday, 28 September 2026

Remember what's there

There is something quite extraordinary about the way Polaroid i-Type film renders a scene.

It isn't an absolutely faithful recreation of a moment.

It's more like a half-remembered dream.

The colours are exaggerated. The whole thing has the feeling that an artist must have painted it rather than a camera captured it.

It's a unique recollection of a place that you can't quite put your finger on. You know you've been there, but you can't quite remember where it was.

It reminds me of Roger Waters lyrics:

When I was a child 

I had a fleeting glimpse,

Out of the corner of my eye.

I turned to look but it was gone.

I cannot put my finger on it now.

The child is grown, the dream is gone.

Perhaps that's what I like about instant film.

It doesn't necessarily show you what was there.

Sometimes it shows you what you remember.

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