Mike Steegmans – Katrin Tonin (2016)

This was labeled as a Polaroid–but it’s not: Polaroid only made 1:1 and 1:21 aspect ratio instant film.

This is a 1:1.6 and change, making it Fuji Instax Wide.

Instant film (Polaroid/Impossible and/or Instax) is… well, let’s call a spade a space: a right royal pain in the arse to use. With Instax you’re talking roughly $0.75 cents a sheet and Impossible Spectra film is approx. $3 per sheet.

The Spectra gives you a bit more control but is EXTREMELY finicky; and as long as the flash doesn’t fire and you’ve positioned yourself to account for the shortcomings as far as the Instax Wide’s fine focus capabilities, it’s slightly more forgiving. (A caveat is that while I’m uncertain if they’ve fixed it in the new 300 model, the 210 featured one of the most lamebrained design snafus I’ve ever seen: the camera doesn’t have an off switch and as such it’s very easy for you to accidentally activate the lens without meaning to and if the lens cannot extend or retract unimpeded, it takes like ten seconds for the gear and groove mechanism to strip.)

All things being equal: it’s really a trade-off. Spectra can be much sharper than the Instax. But part of the allure of Instant formats is their limitations–a plastic lens is only gonna get so sharp. But that same plastic lens causes color diffusion–one of the reasons that a well executed instant film photo looks like nothing else.

(I used to say if cost weren’t a consideration, I’d use only instant film for color work. I’m learning that’s not entirely how I really feel. A well executed instant film photo presents color the way I personally see it–I tend not to notice color individually, I notice it in terms of opposition to or compliment for other colors. Yet when it comes to looking at representations of color, I’m more interested in conveying something experiential to the viewer (slide film is the better vehicale for that, I’ve found). A less abstract way of saying it might be to say that instant film always feels to me like This Is What I Saw vs slide film as this is what I saw joined with how what I saw made me feel.