But it’s become one of my passions.
A creative at heart since childhood, I never doubted becoming an artist. In school I pursued a BFA in Fibers and a minor in Community Arts then dove into a mission-driven life supporting and running various art non-profits, spaces, and organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. My career led me to found an arts consultancy and then into corporate interior design and branding.
I have nostalgia for analog, the unique, and the rare. I’ve always loved Polaroids; the immediacy of the capture, the single print, and the way the image ghosts into existence. I was devastated after Polaroid ceased production of their original-formula 600 film in 2008 (they “brought back” 600 film in 2017, partially due to the Impossible Project - but the color formulation is not as good as the time-perfected original chemistry). A few years after I lost 600 access, I learned about the earlier, Series 1 Polaroid Land Cameras and that Fujifilm still produced its small format instant peel-apart film. I quickly bought a beautiful vintage camera set and started my journey.
Sadly, in 2014, Fujifilm discontinued their Land Camera compatible FP-100C black and white film, and in 2016 their color version. This has left only a limited amount of dead stock film packs, at this point, all well past their original expiration dates. Due to the film being rare, expired, and perhaps stored in undesirable conditions, every expensive and difficult-to-procure pack is a spin of the roulette wheel. I feel lucky to get a successful shot or two per unit, and sometimes a whole pack is a bust. This makes every shoot an adventure, every shot a mystery, and each piece uniquely special.
It gives me such joy to work with this medium, particularly because of the unknown amount of time I’ll have access to viable film. My hope is to share this art form with others who will appreciate its beauty and rarity.
