Troubleseeker

Why Polaroids matter

Who would have thought that the Polaroid camera is still of significance in photography and in the fashion industry?

Polaroid has actually two meanings:

For a photographer, Polaroid means instant film(Polaroid is just a brand name). For medium and large format cameras there are ways (e.g. Polaroid back) to replace the real film with an instant film. This allows for testing a light composition on set because it gives immediate feedback (similar to what you are used to with the screen on the back of your digital camera).

For an agent or client, a Polaroid is a picture taken of someone with the light quality of a Polaroid camera. Some agencies still use real Polaroid cameras, however, more often Polaroids are taken with a digital camera (these are sometimes referred to as “digital Polaroids”).

What makes a Polaroid so special then?

On a Polaroid camera, the flash is mounted closely to the lens. This creates hard but very little shadows on the subject’s face. A face completely revealed like this helps to make an objective judgment about it. The pictures are considered to be not edited and often, the results are not the most flattering. But the light quality of a Polaroid is always the same. In a way this is a very fair thing: a really good model might not be able to afford a good photographer or does not have the necessary connections.

Here is some advise if you have to take a Polaroid yourself:

• If you have no Polaroid camera and scanner, use a digital camera (use the built-in flash or an external one – important is that the flash always points at the subject).
• wear a bathing suit (2 piece) or neutral underwear
• Try to keep your hair off your forehead (you can hold it up)
• Avoid any facial expression
• Take 3 pictures frontal (full length, hips & up, shoulders & up)
• Take 2 pictures from each profile (full length & close-up)
• Take 1 picture from the back