Every so often, Polaroid comes up with a use for its chemical byproducts, and the latest version of this oddly creative recycling effort is Polaroid Purple 600. I'd describe this is a pink-to-pale-violet base with dark areas rendered in deep blue. Since it is darker than something like Yellow Duotone (where the background is yellow and the tones are black), I sought out high contrast architecture for my testing, since nothing will be as bright as white.
This film is made for 600 cameras, but I wanted to shoot in my beloved SX-70 Sonar, so I put a new, neutral-density filter over the lens in a new holder. This isn't how I usually do this: there is a neutral density film that I can insert on each film cartridge, but this should have been easier, theoretically.
I initially was afraid my package wasn't working - my first print was gray, then showed a faint image, then faded... I read the instructions: it takes TEN TO FIFTEEN MINUTES for this particular emulsion to develop. (Instant? [cough]) I found a lobby to sit in while I waited for the first images to develop out, so I could make some adjustments to my exposure going forward. I did try a light exposure indoors, and that was my only failure today.
The images turned out well. The look is novel. I hope it is more stable than most other new Polaroid emulsions are!
