All About Polaroid SX-70 Manipulations
The SX-70 camera uses integral Polaroid film. ‘Integral’ film is self-contained, meaning there is no need to ‘pull-apart’ layers as with some other Polaroid films. The SX-70 was sold in large numbers in the 1970s, and while it cost between $100 and $200 at the time, you can now find them for $10 on eBay. As you can see to the right, a beat-up old camera can work just as well as a mint condition one. The film is bought as either TimeZero or SX-70 film in packs of ten, and each film pack contains the battery that powers the camera. Each film is an emulsion of chemicals sandwiched between plastic front and back sheets. The emulsion consists of a dozen layers of chemicals, half of which have the job of responding to different colours of light.
A property of the film is that it takes several hours for the chemicals to harden. Immediately after exposure the chemicals are very soft, almost liquid. After about thirty minutes it has the consistency of soft chewing gum (at least that is how I imagine it) and I find this consistency the best to work with. I have manipulated some Polaroids several hours after exposure but the chemical consistency at this point is like glue that is not quite set. Or the film can be frozen immediately after exposure to arrest the development, and then warmed and manipulated later. It is possible to do manipulations using other Polaroid film types, but the manipulation has to be done in the first few minutes after exposure.
To manipulate the SX-70 film you’ll need an implement. Pressing the implement on the front of the Polaroid moves the chemicals about underneath. The choice of what implement to use is driven by the visual effect you want. I do almost all my manipulations using a simple wooden skewer (the type you find in a kitchen). A sharp point works well for fine detail, and if you hold the skewer at an angle you can use the sloped edge for more subtle effects. Some people use metal dental implements, crochet hooks, and other burnishing tools. Blunt tools are suitable for blending colours together.
Different colours react differently to manipulation. Black can not really be manipulated at all, and white is not much better. SX-70 film has a unique colour signature, blues are vibrant but yellows lack saturation. Blue sky looks great when manipulated, but faces do not. Experiment with over- and under-exposing shots to see if your manipulation style suits one or the other.
You will also need a flat hard surface to work on. I carry a four-inch square ceramic bathroom tile (Cost: £0.30) with my SX-70 which is just a little larger than the Polaroid film. If you do the manipulation on something not quite flat, you might start to puncture the backing material. If you do break the Polaroid material, a caustic white paste of titanium dioxide will leak out. Be careful not to leave this on your skin too long.
It is worth wasting a few films in experimentation. If you push too hard or sharp into the emulsion the chemicals will ‘crack’ at that point and you’ll end up with the black backing material showing through. Try rubbing with a blunt instrument to warm up and loosen the emulsion before manipulating it. My style is make sure every part of the picture undergoes some form of manipulation, so it can take me about fifteen minutes to finish one film. I often start by tracing the contours of shapes and manipulate after that. Once I have finished the manipulation I use a blunt tool to flatten the photo so that it will scan better and not catch light at all angles.
There is much more to SX-70 Polaroid manipulations than I have covered here, and there are plenty of places on the Web for learning about other techniques.