polaroid road trip

"christ apostolic rib shack" delhi, louisiana [c]2007 doug duffey

to go to my gig saturday, in tallulah, i decided to drive highway 80 [instead of taking the interstate] to shoot whatever i found. i found a wealth of subject matter; more than i'd expected.

there was nobody out, the towns were almost deserted; it was weird... i actually stood in the middle of the railroad track in downtown rayville and saw almost nobody... but it was also hot as hell, so that was a factor.

i carried my polaroid land 210, polaroid spirit, canon ae-1, nikon slr, kiev 60, and 3 vivitar plastic cameras. i must've gotten in and out of the car 50 times, and wagged about 4 cameras for every shot... however, i focused on the 210 and got some incredible stuff. this may be my new camera of choice. the polaroid 664 film with the old land camera made some great fotos... most of them look OLD, which is very cool.

i haven't scanned the fotos yet, they each need to be scanned in color [even if they are B&W] to get all the tones.... above is a funny one: the "christ apostolic rib shack" in delhi, louisiana. i plan to do a gallery of them, instead of just a few here.

[c]2007 doug duffey

polaroid spirit- self portrait

i hit the local goodwill yesterday and found a broken polaroid SPIRIT camera... and since i'm into spirits, i bought it. the top part [flash mechanism] had been broken off, and there was a plastic band of wires sticking up, which used to connect to the flash. i opened it and noticed film inside; but it was so old that the battery in the film pack was kaput, therefore the camera wouldn't work. i figured, "what the hell?... it's only 3$; maybe i can make it work... or, if not, design some kind of pinhole camera out of it." i thought it might get some interesting fx w/o the flash attachment. besides, i don't like the modern Polaroids that automatically flash when you make a shot in low light... so:

i took it home and cut the 'sticking out' wire band part off with scissors. i dug around in the trash and found/got out an empty 600 film pack i'd used yesterday. i then took the film pack out of the camera, and in the closet, slowly/carefully, slid every 'film' out of the old pack...then slid them into the newer one, thinking the battery in the newer pack would be fresh and 'work' the camera... and i'd possibly get some shots out of the old film.

it worked! i pushed the button, the shutter clicked/whirred, and the film spat out. but the film was so old i got nothing but brown prints... [which will look good all lined up together, matted and framed].... but at least i knew the camera worked.

i put in a fresh pack of 600 color film and shot a frame of my bedside table, which was very 'low light'- 40 watt compact fluorescent bulb- but, it came out interesting... a bit blurry... and the colors were "off"... i put it in photoshop and grayscaled/equalized it, but found the original 'weird' color is nicer. then i decided to try a self portrait using the same low lighting. i kneeled on the floor and pointed the camera at my face- click whir spit- and out came a shot which was almost too dark to see on the original color print- very dark. so, i scanned it @ 800 dpi - then grayscaled, equalized, contrasted it in PS and got what [i think] is a very cool shot. it reminds me old very old photos... which i like!


NOW i have 3 polaroid "600 film" cameras: impulse, sun, and spirit; and two OLD 210 'automatic' land cameras [which use peel apart film] - and 15 packs of b&w 664 to use w/the 210 for here and europe... so i am expecting some mysterious and exciting shots.

[c]2007 doug duffey

polaroid mania

okay... i've lost my mind. i got out my old polaroid 210 land camera [actually it was my parents from the 60s or so] and decided to use it after seeing some of my old shots i'd done [back in the day] scanned and printed. i ordered B&W 664 polaroid film from nyc- and was elated when it arrived. i tore open the film pack and loaded the camera. BUT i shot several snaps that came out pitch black, [though one was rather interesting but not what i had been pointing at!!!!] panic. i fiddled around, found the old manual, and discovered the camera uses a battery!...duh! they are not readily available. so, i went online and ordered the battery... and decided to noit mess with the camera again until they [i got 2] came. they came today... and the fun began.... sort of...

for one thing, the camera has 2 settings.... 3000 or 75. i didn't know which to use. [i'd forgotten all this since the 70s!] i went online but nobody/nothing specified. also...i had no real info on how long to let the prints 'develop' before you pull them apart. so. after getting some very weird, screwed up [but arty] shots like these 2 below :i went back online and searched. i never found out anything about the setting except that 3000 was for flash [and i was shooting outside in broad daylight] ... so tried 3000 and got a black square; the polaroid site said wait 30 seconds before peeling the film apart... so, i set the camera on 75 and shot a pic of the tv... i waited 30 seconds and peeled the film apart... et voila.... une miracle! my first clear [sort of] shot... with the Land 210 in 30 years!
so, 2 boxes of film gone... all trials... and errors.... but "by jove i think i've got it!" i hear that fuji b&w pack film is superior to polaroid [who is phasing film out, left and right]-so my next order will be probably be Fuji ...
i have 4 packs of 664 left and just ordered 10 more for my European trip [before i heard about the fuji] so... this should be a fun & interesting "instant" summer...

p.s. i've been scanning the originals at 800dpi- and have even been scanning the backings which make for some "abstract art" when diddled with in photoshop. the possibilities are endless...

[c]2007 doug duffey

downtown cemetery test shots

was out shooting/testing with several new 2nd hand cameras... AND my old stand-bys [my vivitar plastic panoramic camera] - i keep 2 w/me- [1 with 100ASA the other w 400ASA]- the shot above is with the vivitar... using ilford xp-2 [400 asa] -this was NOT a test w/this camera. i love it; it always works; no knobs to twiddle, no f/stops or shutter speeds, or batteries... nada... simply open it's little eye and shoot. you have a choice of regular size shot, or panorama. i usually get the best shots ever with it [or one of them... i have maybe 5, and buy them wheresoever i find one... usually goodwill for 50 cents!]... now just why did i buy that Leica... Rollei... etc.?

i recently found an old 'kodak pony 135' [made in 1950- the year i was born] i've had forever- and figured out how to use it a few days ago [had thought it was broken but like my old agfas' needed the barrel pulled out before the shutter would work] - it's pretty complicated and has to be set etc and a lever moved before you can advance the next frame, etc. but great for double exposures, i'm thinking. this was shot w/the pony using kodak Bw400CN [400 asa]

this last shot was done with a Minolta Hi-Matic 7s [of which i have about 3 or 4, now]- which i saw and bought in an "antique mall" the other day... [this was shot using color -a rarity for me- Fuji 100 asa]- but because it had no battery in it, the camera's built-in light meter didn't work... so, i just diddled with what i thought were the right f/stops and shutter speeds... yawn... the shots came out very grainy... i put in a battery as soon as i got home!

btw... had all this film scanned and put on cd at my local drug store yesterday...

[c]2007 doug duffey

scanning polaroids

self portrait mid 1960s/Polaroid- after Photoshop clean up

i've been on a Polaroid scanning binge after discovering some very interesting bits in some i'd scanned from the 1960s recently: things like other people reflected in someone's sunglasses etc. things which weren't noticed until i scanned/saved them and saw them on dvd- very "Blow-up" [movie] like stuff!

so... i've been going back through all my old fotos and foto albums; taking out the Polaroids to re-scan at hi resolution. i never realized just how many Polaroids i shot over the years! i have a whole Polaroid-documentary of the 1960s [and even until now!]

i recently found color P film on sale at Walgreen's [buy one pack get one free] and snapped up several packs, but just ordered black and white [like i used in the 60s] to explore further. the B&W has more of an edge than the color. i especially like it when accidents happen, like this double exposure below. HOW did that happen/ most P cameras spit the foto out, pronto; this must've been an older model... need to dig it out! i'm waaaaaaaaay into double exposures!

self portrait/beach/double exposure/ 1970s- Polaroid scanned; NO photoshop on this one!

edmund williamson and i discussed doing an exhibit of 1960s art: his paintings my fotos... so stay tuned! it could happen...

[c]2007 doug duffey

gede/painting on alley fence/new orleans

this was shot at the same time as the day of the dead/voodoo ceremony foto in an earlier post- shot a few years ago in new orleans. this painting was on a fence in the alley [in the By-water] where the ceremony was held. it is supposedly a depiction of the voodoo god Gede.

[c]2007 doug duffey

venice and trieste

i can't remember where i shot this top pic- maybe venice, maybe trieste- it's on the actual negatives [wherever they are] - as said in an earlier post, i have hundreds of these kinds of shots, which i really like. i'm never quite sure if they should be posted as foto or art...

this was shot in trieste, italy; i'm a big fan of Kurt Schwitters, and some of the billboards and signs i shoot remind me of his work.

[c]2007 doug duffey

farenheit 451 venice

i got up about 7AM in Venice [italy] one morning to go out 'shooting'. as i was walking along a canal, i saw these posters on the other side of the canal, and shot them. this is one of the few times i had slide film in a 'real' camera. i prefer the top one.

i have a thing about billboards- especially if they're ripped up, added to, and 'collaged' - i shoot the best ones i see, whenever i see them. to me, they ARE art. i have a whole series of those; many from europe.

a poster i saw in a square in venice

i also like those plastic letter signs; and church signs w/sayings... i like to shoot those with toy cams.

[c]2007 doug duffey

cotton belt

a b&w scan of a color 110 foto i made in pine bluff, arkansas in the mid-1980s
[c]2007 doug duffey

blues fest sign update

as expected... just when i was going to shoot the other blues fest sign, out by the airport, i saw that it was gone! that's a pisser! but in it's place was a very funny 'hand painted' sign promoting some local politician... i've got to shoot it... and post it!
[c]2007 doug duffey

junk store- g&a grocery

more from my "disappearing south" series... this shot is from tallulah. there are two junk stores across the street from each other. i've photographed both a gazillion times... but... i'm sure it wont be long before someone buys and razes this block and puts up some pre-fab merde in the name of progress.
g&a grocery- along the railroad tracks in downtown vicksburg, mississippi. hand painted faces from left to right: martin luther king, malcolm x, robert kennedy, harriet tubman

[c]2007 doug duffey

dancers/voodoo ceremony/new orleans

shot at a day of the dead/voodoo ceremony in an alley in the by-water in new orleans after midnight, one year. people dancing, beating drums, chanting etc. had a little tape recorder in my pocket and taped the sounds, which i planned to use in some music. i used a slr w/o flash; i couldn't see to focus, which is maybe why it's so dark and out of focus. but i like the look of the shadows on the dancers, their implied motion, rather than clarity.

[c]2007 doug duffey