This week-end I did my very first Polaroid emulsion lifts and I’m very excited about this alternative photographic technique.

Not so much because because of the technique itself, but more so because of the unpredictable and often amazing results it can lead to.

The Polaroid emulsion lift process is both simple and complicated at the same time. In essence an emulsion lift is a Polaroid 669 print that has been soaked in hot water until the top emulsion layer floats off the backing.

Once the emulsion layer is off the backing, it can be transferred and manipulated to a new surface receptor. In my example the new surface receptor was watercolour paper, but it could as well be a stone, lampshade, glass, wood or tile. The result is an exciting mix of creativity, explorations and an enormous potential for manipulating the image.

There can be different variations of this technique, but the basics are the same, and the following is a description of how I do my Polaroid emulsion lifts.

OK, let’s start at the beginning.

What Do You Need To Do Polaroid Emulsion Lifts?

Since Polaroid has stopped their production of both their instant film cameras and their instant films, you’re looking at aquiring these two essential ingredients for the process in the second-hand market.

I use the Polaroid Reporter as the capturing device for my images. This is a fantastic camera, plastic fantastic, but still really fantastic! I love it. It’s a very cool retro camera that is simple and easy to use and you can find one on Ebay at a good price.

You don’t have to worry about aperture and shutter speed, the Polaroid Reporter sorts all that out for you. There is no auto-focus either, it’s all manual and manual focus is comprised by a simple distance scale. So to focus your subject you need to estimate the distance between the camera and your subject and then set the distance scale accordingly. Don’t worry too much about accuracy here, a soft focus can lend a certain dreamy quality to your images. As you can see my images here are nowhere near sharp!

The Polaroid 669 instant film is essential to this technique and is the most common film used for the process. Unfortunately the film is quite rare these days and therefore also quite costly. However we can always hope The Impossible Project will save the Polaroid 669 film and thereby also this beautiful alternative photographic technique.

The Polaroid 669 instant film is a peel-apart-film. Once the film is pulled through the rollers in The Reporter it breaks open a pod containing a developing-agent that is spread between the exposed negative and the receiving positive sheet. You then let this film sandwich develop for a predetermined time (usually around 60 seconds) depending on the ambient temperature after which the positive sheet is peeled away from the negative to reveal the final developed photo.

I have done emulsion lifts both with and without the white photo border (which becomes semi-transparent after the lift) and prefer to cut the border away before doing the lift as I find it adds to the ‘floating’ effect of the image. Consequently a pair of scissors come in handy as well.

You will also need two water trays.

And then you will also need a kettle on which you can boil some water, and then finally a surface receptor which is watercolour paper in this example (but could also be a stone, lampshade, glass, wood or tile).

That’s all you need. Now the fun can begin.

The Process of Polaroid Emulsion Lifts

The process of Polaroid emulsion lifts is really quite simple for the most part. The complicated part is when you need to transfer the emulsion onto its new surface receptor. This can be a little bit tricky and I ruined a few images in my first attempts. This is the one part of the process that requires a bit of practice.

1. First fill a tray with tap water you have heated up on the kettle. I boil the water and then let is sit for a minute of two.

2. Fill another tray with warm tap water.

3. Immerse the dried Polaroid print face up in the hot water for about 4 minutes (or until small bubbles appear on the surface of the print which indicates it’s ready for the next step).

4. Transfer the print from the hot water bath to the warm water bath and gently push the emulsion layer from the edges of the print towards the centre using your fingers.

5. Carefully lift the emulsion and peel it away from the backing and throw away the backing.

6. Place your receptor sheet in the warm water under the thin emulsion. And now comes the tricky part. The emulsion is very fragile at this point, so be careful not to tear the image. Gently float the emulsion layer on top of your receptor. Hold the emulsion lift by the corners and lift it in and out of the warm water a couple of times to remove the wrinkles and stretch the image. Then lay the image on top of your receptor sheet and lift the entire image and receptor out of the water bath.

7. You can now begin to manipulate the image by creating wrinkles and tears adding texture and interest to the image. This is of course a creative process, so play around with the image as little or much as you like.

8. When you are satisfied with the look of your image gently roll the image with a rubber brayer to remove air bubbles.

9. Let the image dry overnight. You can press the image under a stack of heavy books overnight to remove any lumps or waves in the watercolour.

10. Remove the stack of heavy books and Voila! You can now enjoy your creative piece of art.

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