I have a Polaroid SX-70 camera, which is one of the more precise and exciting Polaroid cameras out there. I also have a long history of supporting what used to be called The Impossible Project: a business that purchased Polaroid’s manufacturing facilities in the Netherlands to re-invent the instant print for the world’s vast supply of existing instant cameras. The project was bold, though the results were initially mixed: some of the early iterations of the film have faded to nothing! However, emulsions improve, the business has licensed the Polaroid name, and now provides its re-engineered/new products under the Polaroid Originals name.
I gave myself the gift of Polaroid Originals film last fall and early this year, and am sharing some of the monochrome images.
This black and white film is my favorite yet. It really is black and white (early editions were sepia-to-chocolate), and the contrast is excellent. There are flaws in the emulsion, which you can see are coral-like patterns in the corners, or spots in the shadows, which I’m leaving in (because they are really there!).
By night, the windows reveal tiny figures engaging in different health activities.
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
City College of San Francisco's fitness center, which offers window views of the classes inside from a distance.
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
SFMoMA's Snøhetta expansion looms between the original Mario Botta structure (foreground) and the historic The Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company Building by Timothy Pflueger (rear left).
The Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company Buildin
Sculpture on the roof of the W Hotel ballroom
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
Overhangs of Moscone West
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
Theater wall detail at Yerba Buena Gardens
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
An old fire hydrant gets a spotlight
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
Southern Wall of the Moscone Expansion
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
Reflections of a construction crane on the perforated corners of the Moscone Expansion
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
An improbable line of balconies adorn a high rise behind a historic newspaper building
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
Screen on the new Moscone Center Expansion
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
Cladding on a new, luxury tower
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
An unexpected roofline rises from the Jewish Museum in San Francisco
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
Overexposed detail of the Jewish Museum, San Francisco
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
Highly detailed corner of a triangular building on Market Street in San Francisco
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
Autumn's harsh light in San Francisco
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
A contemporary building's surface
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
A view from the South of Market "Cut" district in San Francisco
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
The shady side of a textured new glass highrise in San Francisco
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
Salesforce Tower with a new Transit Center bridge in the foreground
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
A Polaroid of the Transamerica pyramid, along with an adjacent building making room for it
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
Another view of a historic building in San Francisco
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
Highrises reflect each other in downtown San Francisco
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
A view of CCSF's Chinatown campus in San Francisco
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
A building comes to a sharp point in Hayes Valley
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
A reflective skyscraper emerges from the shadow of a modernist building in downtown San Francisco
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
Salesforce Tower peeks out from behind other skyscrapers in downtown San Francisco
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
Recent addition to Hayes Valley
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
SF Symphony Hall detail
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
A glass corridor between two buildings in the Civic Center area
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
West side of SF's Civic Center
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
Clouds reflect on a recently reskinned building on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco
Polaroid Original Black and White Instant Print by A.E. Graves
