PM Subscriber Spotlight: Polaroid Diaries
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Photographer: SX-70 • Web Site: http://www.polaroid-diaries.com • Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact: sx-70(at)polaroid-diaries(dot)com• Member Since: 1/09/06
Equipment: Myself (ie Polaroid SX-70)
PM: How did you get involved in photography?
SX: Well, pretty much, I can’t think of a moment when I thought I was created for anything but taking photos and being involved in photography…it’s always been just a natural extension of who I am. There have been a couple of times where I’ve felt a bit “put on the shelf” and not the flavour of the month when it comes to my involvement in photography, but I’ve always known it’s the only thing I was ever really made for…
PM: How would you describe your photographic style?
SX: Basically, my photographic style is what a lot of people would refer to as “Old school…” I’ve never quite got involved in all the latest digital side of things. I generally like shooting things that are unusual, but I do find myself falling into clichés. Still, there’s always some form of truth in clichés. Mostly, I like what ever style I dabble in to be challenging and force me to extend myself – helps to keep me a bit spry, so to speak…
PM: Why do you photoblog?
SX: As a Polaroid SX-70 camera I decided around about July of 2004 that I probably didn't have too much time left in this new, fangled digital world, so I decided that I would start a diary/photoblog and send the original Polaroids out into the big, wide, world. It’s a web based collection of memoirs - of things I come across that strike a certain chord with me – and these collected snaps are sent out into the world to carry on the SX-70 name, as it were. As well as the images in my diary I have also included comments for each "diary snap" and provide an opportunity for those who find the diary snaps to report in on their progress. The photoblog was commenced on July 29, 2004 and is still a continuing concern with a current count of over 320 diary entries and over 70 reported sightings.
PM: What are your strengths and weakness as a photographer?
SX: Strengths: lateral viewing; trying new things that will stretch my limitations whilst recognising and being realistic about what can be achieved within the parameters of those limitations; not being too precious; enjoying the restrictions and individuality of “hard copy” polaroid images
Weaknesses: inconsistency in getting the “best shot” every time; lack of available time to be “out there” getting shots as often as possible – this causes gaps in the blog; getting to know exactly what the light is doing in each shot; taking in the full shot before releasing the shutter; getting beyond the cliches
PM: Is there a single, underlying premise behind the Polaroid Diaries photoblog?
SX: Learning to “let go” - as part of the "philosophy" of Polaroid Diaries, all the "snaps" in the diary are virtually lost to me. The original polaroids are "sent out" into the world on a journey, taken where ever fate and chance carry them. They are my children, as it were, and I am constantly reliving the "empty nest" syndrome each time one of them commences their travels. They are secretly "dropped" in public places with the hope that someone will find them, take them in, go to the http://www.polaroid-diaries.com web site and enter a report, keeping me advised of their progress. As part of this "giving them up" philosophy I have made a conscious (but at times, very difficult decision) not to keep anything of the original polaroid that would "compete" with it. Part of the project is for me to experience the pain of loss associated with the "release" of each one, and the hope that this sense is also shared by those who might subsequently find and re-release one of the shots. Reading through some of the reports, I know that this has been quite difficult for some to deal with, at times choosing to keep hold of the photo rather than setting it on its journey once more.
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PM: What is your background, and what are you doing when you are not photoblogging?
SX: Whilst I know I was “born” sometime between 1972 and 1977 I’m a bit unsure of the exact details and have very patchy recollection of my youth and childhood (well, we all know what the 70s was like…!). Through research of the old family tree I know I have a fairly strong history in the photography world with some of my relatives being quite high profile in the industry at the present. For a while there, I was one of the most popular ones around – everyone wanted me and I was seen at the best and most contemporary of places, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Andy Warhol and Helmut Newton. As I mentioned earlier I was not always the flavour and for some time a experienced a certain hiatus, a time of just sitting on the shelf, so to speak. Lately there’s been a bit of a renaissance in my work and what I’m capable of achieving. This, however, is set to decline once again with supplies of my natural food source (Polaroid SX-70 Time Zero Film) being more and more difficult to source due to depleting supplies from the my homeland. I’ll be able to survive on a lighter diet of Polaroid 600 but it is more difficult to digest and allow for its “lighter” nature and I could undergo surgery to help me to process this fare, but it’s not quite the same. I’ll have to make do as best I can… When I’m not photoblogging I enjoy relaxing and thinking about photoblogging.