POLAROID PROCESS

POLAROID

PROCESS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BEN HARRIES
STORY & INTERVIEW BY CRYSTAL MCCLORY

Photographer Ben Harries’ project ‘Polaroid Process’ began when he was a photographic assistant and has developed over time. Shot on his travels and assignments around the world, his tactile books pay homage to the legacy of Polaroid film.

Imagista: Can you tell us about this project?

Ben Harries: My Polaroid Book project started a long time ago when I kept a scrapbook diary from my assisting days. I picked up an old Polaroid 250 Land Camera at a flea market in LA for $10 and would siphon off packs of Polaroid and Fuji from the shoots I was assisting on. Polaroid was abundant and not nearly as expensive as it is today. I’d take landscapes and behind-the-scenes pictures and every now and again pictures of the models when the photographer wasn’t looking.

The books have evolved into a more polished version of the originals. They start life as an off-the-shelf sketchbook. As the pages fill, the spine inevitably splits so I ship them off to Wyvern Bindery in Clerkenwell, London, to get the rebound. They are an old-school book and portfolio binders and take great care piecing the books back together.

Imagista: Is it part of a show, book, or ongoing series?

Ben Harries: My latest Polaroid book is A3 and goes out with my portfolio when I see clients. It always gets much more attention from art directors than my beautifully retouched portfolio. Although the pages are made up post-shoot, they have a conceptual feel to them which art directors and clients seem to feed off. I’m coming to the end of my current book, which is always a strange time. A new book takes time to fill up and doesn’t get aired until it’s a good few pages in.

Imagista: What is the concept for this project?

Ben Harries: The idea for my Polaroid books is to show one project per double-page spread. I include outtakes and incidentals that wouldn’t get included in the published editorial, and I get to have the creative freedom to lay the pages out how I want.

I’m constantly looking for layout inspiration. It could be from an exhibition, a flyer or a book. Sometimes just a font. I dug out my Dymo gun after seeing a beautifully ornate doorbell in Paris with rough embossed Dymo name labels running up the side. There was something so graphic and uncomplicated about it, which in a way is the backbone of my books. In the modern era of instant digital imagery, it’s easy to forget how printed images feel to handle, especially Polaroids, which in themselves are perfect one-off pieces of art. Over the years I have tried scanning and duplicating the books, but they lose that sense of touch that makes the originals so tactile.

Imagista: Were there any particular challenges with this project?

Ben Harries: The problem now is the rarity of Polaroid. The pages are becoming less about original Polaroids and more a repurposing of digital and film imagery. I still shoot Polaroid, I use a Polaroid 180 and SX70 now, but unfortunately, the film is not so available. That said, the main idea of the books hasn’t changed. I still print everything out and arrange them on the page.