Unusual Polaroid Photos of a Mouth by Paul E Williams

Home  / Photo Art Index / Polaroid Photos / – Polaroid Lift Index

Polaroid Photos Lifts – “speak” by photographer Paul E Williams. A unique series of Polaroid Lift photo art prints called Speak which were originally taken for a Polaroid Lift animation by Paul E Williams

Buy Polaroid Lift Photos Art Prints

Speak a Polaroid Lift Photo Art Print Series

Series : Speak
Photographer : Paul E Williams
Media : 10×8 Colour Polaroid Lift
Date Created : 1991.

Animated polaroid lift sequence depicting a n extreme close up of an opening mouth. These polaroid lift photos were part of an animated short film made by photographer Paul E Williams in 1991.

“Speech is the one of the most powerful tools that sets man apart from the other animals we persecute on this planet. Words are powerful parcels of communication between humans that in small precise packages convey a range of concepts from love to war. Words though are just sounds created by our mouths and it is our brains that interpret these sounds into meanings. So it follows that different brains interpret words in very different ways allowing for misinterpretation. In fact words are not that precise and often have very different meanings to different peoples. For example the words, Jew, Christian Muslim, fascist, communist and capitalist will excite very different meanings and trigger very different prejudices to different peoples inhabiting different communities around the world. “Words” is a series of photos to remind me of how wonderful or corrosive sounds our innocent lips can create. One word can start a love affair or a war, now thats real power” Paul E Williams

Technique. The Speak photos were originally made on 120 Ektachrome using a Mamiya RB 67.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.