POLAROID EMULSION
MANIPULATION

Polaroid Emulsion Manipulation is an experimental workshop exploring the instant photograph as a surface that can be physically altered during the process of development. Rather than treating the photograph as a finished image, participants intervene directly in its formation, transforming the photographic emulsion through pressure, drawing, and manual gestures.

The workshop begins with taking photographs using Polaroid cameras and experimenting with portraits, still lifes, coloured filters, and different optical accessories. As the instant image begins to develop, the photographic surface becomes a space for further intervention. By applying pressure and drawing into the developing emulsion, participants can distort contours, shift colours, extend forms, or introduce entirely new elements into the image.

The technique creates a dialogue between photography and drawing. The photographic image provides the initial visual information, while manual intervention disrupts and transforms it, making the development process itself part of the creative act. Because the emulsion reacts differently to each gesture and changes as the image develops, the final result can never be fully predicted.

The workshop encourages participants to explore the boundaries between photographic representation and physical image-making. Each Polaroid becomes a unique object in which photography, drawing, material, and chance coexist on the same surface.