No, trash Polaroid photo isn’t dead !
“You’re never 100% sure of the Polaroid photo that will come out. There is this exciting suspense that happens every time”
Today, we come to visit Jean-Baptiste Correge’s place, above the city of Lyon, France. You pet the cat that meows “Hi” and you dive into a universe mixing vintage, trash and raw stuff with a tint of melancholy.
At 28, he only shoots photos on films – analog, instant. But it wasn’t always this way.
Jean-Baptiste was introduced to photography back in 2016, full digital style. As a concert and set concert photographer, he comes with the artists and crews on the set to shoot portraits, backstage moments and gathers inspiration for album covers projects. He settles at Le Groom, a nightclub from Lyon with an eclectic program to produce reports that he edits afterwards (Ed. our friends Photoshop and Lightroom).
As he keeps improving his skills, he switches to analog photography, the only tool that fits the expression of his singular vision.
“No editing, no view on what you just shot. It’s impossible to lie.”
He quickly falls in love with the analog photography ritual : pick the right moment, charge the film, enjoy a very limited number of poses. Panasonic, Konika, Foca… He tried different types of cameras and films and makes his equipment fit the artistic purpose desired.
He naturally goes to instant photography. First, with an Instax Wide he was gifted, but he regrets the coldness of the films. Then with a Polaroid Impulse he bought from the couple The London Vagabond that focus his work on sex-trash images. If he had to choose just one, he would go for his current Polaroid 635 Supercolor. For the flash you can disengage that brings the creative freedom he was looking for, and for the diversity of films you can find at Polaroid’s (duo-chrome, color 600, N&B…).
“As soon as I was working on a photo shooting, I bring a Polaroid camera. There is this fun side to gift some photos to the crew on stage. And it’s also a good way to get a first look at the final result before you develop the film.”
J-B isn’t one of those who keep his photos inside their drawer. More than 1000 instant films ! Enough to cover all the apartment’s walls. He carefully selects the ones he highlights at home, in some Pol studio frames of pinned to the wall. His favorite Pol studio's frames trio : Vigo.
He is currently making a book out of these hundreds of photos. As he had been writing since he was 14, he “took advantage” of a several months hospitalization to create a first manuscript mixing poetry and photography. Entirely typed on his typewriter from his hospital bed, here he delivers a dive into the privacy of a complet(x)e artist. An auto-edition of this book will be available soon.
An advice about instant photography for our community ?
“If you’re a beginner at Polaroid photography, make sure to use the Flash ! You will never be disappointed and you will learn fast how to bring style to your images. Don’t be afraid of failures, it’s part of your instant photography pleasure”.
A bonus ?
“High Five” to Les Ateliers de Marinette for providing the Polaroid films !
