Digital Edits on Scanned Film Photos:
Artistic Process or Cheating?
Well, I scan all my instant and other film photos, and digitally edit the crap out of a select few, so — depending on your POV — I might be an artist, a cheater, or a little of both.
Recently, I discussed the idea via Instagram with a friend; an artist in France who loves instant and other film photography as much as I do. I asked him, “Is it cheating?” He replied, “No it’s NOT.”
I guess that makes me a “hipstaroid” artist…
What’s a Hipstaroid?
Hipstamatic + Polaroid = Hipstaroid
Hipstamatic is an award-winning camera and image-editing app for the iPhone, which was launched in 2010, one year before Instagram.
No need to explain Polaroid… I’m just using the “roid” part of their name as a recognizable reference to any instant camera, film, and photos made using them.
So, a “Hipstaroid” is any instant (or film) photograph, scanned into a digital format, and edited in the Hipstamatic app. Got it?
The Hipstaroid Artistic Process:
- Make a photograph on instant or other film.
- Scan the instant photo, film negative or positive.
- Edit the scanned photo in the Hipstamatic app (iPhone only).
- Make edits over the existing edits repeatedly for softer, less realistic, more painterly and “posterized” results.
- Edits-on-edits are referred to as “double- or triple-baked” etc.
- Stop editing when you are satisfied, having created something completely different from your original instant or film photo!
Making a Hipstaroid:
Please comment below if try making Hipstaroids of your own — I’d love to see the results!
russ murray 