Unusual Polaroid Photos of an Eye by Paul E Williams

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Polaroid Photos Lifts – “see” by photographer Paul E Williams A unique series of Polaroid Lift photo art prints. These Polaroid Lifts were made as part of a Polaroid animation called Icarus by Paul E Williams.

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“See” Polaroid Photos Lifts Series

Series : See
Photographer : Paul E Williams
Media : 10×8 Colour Polaroid Lift
Date Created : 1989

Animated polaroid lift sequence depicting a n extreme close up of an opening eye. These polaroid lift photos were part of an animated short film made by photographer Paul E Williams in 1989.

“Thanks to the programming from our parents and society, few of us ever truly open our eyes and see the world as it is. I get the feeling after years and years of un-learning Buddhist monks like the Dalai Lama open their eyes and see a world I am sometimes lucky to get a faint glimpses of. To me this is what photography is really about. When you can get your sub conscious hard wired to the camera trigger finger the resulting photograph is usually a revelation that your consciousness missed. For me thats why photography is a way of seeing what you otherwise would probably have missed.

The difficult bit is letting the sub conscious take the photo without the conscious ruining it by questions like “why”. As with Buddhist monks the ability of letting the sub conscious take photos takes a lot of un-learning and is and is not a precise pastime. The “See” series is a personal reminder that all you have to do is open your eyes and see as well as a reminder of how difficult it is to see the world through a new born child eyes.” Paul E Williams

Technique. The mask photos were originally made on 120 Ektachrome using a Mamiya RB 67. The resultant transparencies were then copied onto 10×8 colour polaroid using a Sinar P view camera. The emulsion was then carefully lifted off the 10×8 Polaroid prints and laid in a shallow tray of water. The polaroids were then animated and the action photographed onto 120 ektachrome film. For the animation each frame of film was scanned and compiled into the final animation in After Effects. In 2020 Paul E Williams reconstructed the animation in 4K.