my loaned Instax Mini 90 by Fujifilm
Until last week my photos were – for the most part – intangible. Living in a box (called Instagram), embedded in my blog and rarely printed. While this is wonderfully cost effective it is, at the same time, horribly sad. Despite being an avid post pic manipulator, there is a lot to be said for analogue creativity… so I jumped when my local Snappy Snaps (in Swiss Cottage) offered to loan me Fujifilm’s Instax Mini 90 for review.
with bated breath, you watch the image emerge
Armed with a handful of films (yes, remember those?), a smart retro-designed camera in black and silver, a press button flash and a charger (which I never needed)… I skipped off back into the olden days.
until it appears (rather romantically) in full colour.
There’s something so immediately thrilling about Polaroid-style photography. And we (the Smalls and I) romanced each time it whizzed out a new shot. Then, I pinned each (worthy) one to my board and gave it a little caption (Instagram has taught me how much I love to add words to my images).
my story board of Instax pictures/captions
I recently read Suzanna Conway’s book This I Know where she wrote: ‘In all honesty instant photography is an addiction and once you’ve started you’ll find yourself dreaming in little squares and spending your rent money on film…’
And I see her point. It’s not cheap. (£17.99 for 2 x 10 shots)
But, once you’ve bounced back from the harsh reality of living with unadulterated pictures, it’s a WHOLE different world of snapping.
Small excitedly holds a developing photo
Now, image quality isn’t what we’re used to but let’s be realistic – this is an Instax camera. All the same, it allows you to be creative and, if you wanted to go one step further, with the right scanner, you could get lots and lots of resolution out of these photos.
pictured with my latest photography treasure, Vivan Maier’s street photography
Besides, it’s completely intuitive to use and will delight all those around you.
