Jeff Hutton Photography

, originally uploaded by jeffreywithtwof’s.

tz edge cut film: a limited offering from the impossible project

, originally uploaded by jeffreywithtwof’s.

limited offering from the impossible project

I had some packs of The Impossible Project’s rejected PX600 silver shade film. I think it’s pretty decent but also understand why it ended up in the reject bin.

I wanted to use this last pack as I imagined it would be used maybe 30 years ago or whenever. I wanted the shots to be snapshots. For me to not think that much about composing them and for them to contain family. No matter what sort of photographer you fancy yourself aren’t family portraits the ones you really have to take- the ones you need to to take.

So that’s what I used it to shoot. My mom and dad, my brother, and my grandparents.

I’m really pretty pleased with the results. I think the film is probably best suited for portraits. It adds something you can’t create in post and that makes each one truly unique and special. Isn’t that what photography is about?

Did you know that instant film is back? Like, for real. The Impossible Project has done it.
Hell yea.
You can read all about how they came to be and how the film came to be here and this should be helpful, too.

Way back in November of 2009 I was contact by The Impossible Project with a simple questions: would you be interested in testing the new integral film? It took me about a half a second to launch an uppercase “YES!” back to them.

Fast forward to February and after a small glitch in the production the film was ready to be tested. Having the benefit of living in Brooklyn I was able to pick up the film at their NYC headquarters. Actually that’s not true. I sent my wife to pick it up. She works just a few blocks away.

Opening the package was a little bit like when Vincent opens the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. That glow!

The 40 test photographers worldwide were given two formulas #40 and #43. We were told that #43 was more experimental than #40. That didn’t necessarily turn out to be true…but more on that later.

The film sat patiently in my photo closet for a couple a days. I had been planning to take a day off from my “real” job to head to some different places in the city to try this out. I had not planned on the day I chose to take off there being a blizzard across the North East and over a foot of snow predicted.

No matter. I loaded the film into my SX-70 Alpha 1 and set up a white background and placed some of the clipped plants I’m attempting to replant in the middle. And viola:

The film pops out with a psychedelic shade of blue to protect it from light as it develops. Pretty cool.
I removed the clippings and set about finding a few of my son’s tin robots to shot. Lining them up and setting up my shot I find the mirror on my camera has locked. Crap! What now? I fiddled with the pack of film attempting to reengage the shutter without overexposing a shot and there’s not use. The camera is fuxor. Dead. I realize that removing the film back is going to cost me two shots: (in an eight shot pack!) one when the pack comes out and another when it was loaded into a new camera. This leads to problem number two. I don’t have a second working SX-70. I do have a SLR 680se, though. The issue here, though, is that camera is designed for 600asa film and the Impossible Project’s test film is 100asa. I’ll have to make it work.
After sadly watching two of the 32 shots develop into white nothing I decided to take a break from the test film and revisit it the next morning.

I hatched a brilliant plan to head out for an early morning walk with my Boston Terrier Bean through the fresh snow and then follow that up with a visit to Far Rockaway. Perfect plan? Almost. It turns out the test film is not so good in sub freezing temperatures. I came to this conclusion after going through the rest of the first pack of #40 with wildly varied results. I’m stubborn as a mule, though (an ass) so I decided to load the #43 and take it for a spin.
Here’s the best from those two packs.

#43 has that really awesome grain to it while #40 has the rich buttery tone. I realize that these aren’t the final products but I was already pretty excited about the potential.

Far Rockaway proved more disappointing. The super cold weather and a massive wind made shooting conditions less than ideal for the test film. I came back home with some ghosts of shots that could have been. I was nervous. Maybe I’m doing something wrong? Is the 680se really altering the shots THAT much. Hmmm.

Luckily a conversation with Dave Bias from The Impossible Project put me at ease. Basically: It’s test film! That’s why you’re testing it: to figure out how to make it better and share the inconsistencies and nuances of the film.

I used the rest of the test allotment indoors with more consistent results and realistic expectations of myself and the film.

Surprisingly, two of my images are featured in the The Impossible Collection. And, even more amazing, Grahm’s tin robot was blown up to 3ftx3ft and hangs along with many other more talented photographer’s work at the Impossible Project’s NYC office.

My final opinion on the film is probably best summed by Florian Kaps at the Impossible Project’s press conference: magic. Is the film temperamental? Yes. Sensitive? Yes. Sometimes frustrating? Yes. It is instant film and much like using the expired batches of Polaroid still available. Will it make everyone happy? Probably not. Will it solve healthcare reform and end wars? Nah, but maybe it could help.

I thoroughly enjoyed testing this film and plan to buy and use much more. I think it truly offers a unique “instant” film experience. It forces a user to pay close attention to composition and details. It’s special to watch that blue fade into the rich tones of the film as the picture evolves before your eyes. Imperfections and all: Perfectly magic.