This cafe is in the Marais, near Place des Vosges. Paris is a great city to photograph at night and in the early morning. I didn’t have a tripod with me this night, so I used a small bag of rice to steady the camera on a street pole.
This image was shot on a Sony digital camera.
I originally shot this image on slide film. It had candles in the foreground and the crucifix in the background. I created this image while playing with the idea of Polaroid type 55 being a canvas instead of just a negative.
I love the native framing element of Polaroid film. Combine that with the unique surface textures, range of values, and the ability to manipulate and I’m a happy camper. I’ve since used this technique of projecting slides onto Polaroid film to create other images.
I created a second negative to modify by hand. I’m not one for Photoshop tricks as I need to get my hands dirty. I attacked this second negative with paint, sharp objects, xerox transfers and more.
The globe-like head on Christ has always intrigued me. In the original image, you can see that it is a plaque behind his head. However, this is obscured in the Polaroid version.