Mary's Photo Diary: Instant Beautification

Mary, once again, is here to share with us her wonderful world through her film photographs. For her third visual story, she deviates from the usual anticipation she gets while her films are being processed. This time, it is time for some instant happiness!

I first started taking pictures of my sister and friends with a Polaroid camera I found at Goodwill (if you’re ever looking for one- there’s a 80% chance you’ll find one at Goodwill for about $5! I’ve gotten at least three from there and sometimes they even have film in them.)

I used to buy the film at Target, but $20 for 10 exposures was a little bit too expensive for someone without a job… so, I stopped using my Polaroid and traded it in for a real SLR film camera. But being such an impatient person, having to wait even an hour for my film to develop started driving me crazy- I missed being able to see your picture instantly. I know you don’t have to wait with digital, but digital isn’t as great as film, and I’m sure all of you Lomo-obsessed agree with me about that!

After I saw some of the pictures people were taking with the Instax camera, I really wanted one. (Frenchie Jane’s pictures in particular and also Annette Pehrsson’s. Annette also takes some amazing Polaroids.) So about a year after I gave up my Polaroid, I bought a Fuji Instax 210 Wide Camera camera. The film was a lot cheaper than Polaroid’s ($10 for 20 exposures) and I liked the wide format.

So I know I sound like a Polaroid/Instax spokesperson, but if you’re not acquainted with instant film, you should try one out!

Mary Robinson is a young photographer from Atlanta, Georgia. Follow her film adventures in her very own visual diary series right here in the Analogue Lifestyle section!

written by maryrobinson on 2011-06-27 #lifestyle #instant-photography #instant-film #mary-robinson #mary-s-photo-diary-series