Polaroid Duochrome: My Favorite Polaroid Reinvention

A black and yellow image of reflective buildings and diagonal lines

Millions of Polaroid cameras remained in circulation when Polaroid decided to stop manufacturing both instant (peel-apart) and integral films.  During the post-Polaroid re-invention of integral film technologies I eagerly tried, one stands out.  It’s a monochrome novelty film: Yellow 600, the “duochrome” rendering as black on a yellow background.

I love it beyond belief.

more than a dozen black and yellow integral prints and original Polaroid Yellow 600 packaging are displayed on a hardwood floor
A sampling of Yellow 600 integral prints, successful and not, plus Polaroid packaging

When it is fresh, the shadows are deep black: the contrast is beautiful, and the yellow is bright enough to flaunt it.  It appears to take a few days to develop fully, though development seems close to final within the same day.  As the film ages in (dark, dessicant-rich) storage, it fades toward sepia.  I disapprove of this: I want my photos to be stable, at least as stable as traditional Polaroid. (More on that another time.)  But my scanning habits are slow, so my scanned archive shows the prints faded to a warmer, less neutral tone.

I like the sharpness of my SX-70, and so I shoot Polaroid 600 with it, tucking a neutral density filter into the cartridge atop the film (!) to obtain the correct exposure range.

Polaroid (by which I mean the company that owns the name now: possibly the buyers of the Impossible Project turned Polaroid Originals turned Polaroid) issued four versions of duochrome, each for limited periods of time: blue and black, pink and black, green and black, and yellow and black.  Yellow feels the most satisfying for me, and I’m thrilled to obtain some.

Should I buy integral films that fade within a few years?  No.  Would I buy many packages of this tomorrow if it was available again, so I could enjoy its unique look, the satisfaction of shooting with my beloved SX-70, and the satisfaction of instant results?  Oh, yes, yes I would.

A geometric wall with assymmetrial openings in black and yellow, with the edges of two small shrubs in the foreground
Tones: a geometrically interesting wall with multiple dark openings and pleasantly shaped overhangs by A.E. Graves