Behind the Scenes: Shooting 8×10 Polaroids of Strangers
Film photographer and YouTuber Willem Verbeeck recently set out on a fun project that will appeal to portrait photographers, film lovers, Polaroid fans, and large format shooters alike. He teamed up with a camera store to shoot 8×10 polaroid portraits of strangers in Brooklyn.
The project was created in partnership with Brooklyn Film Camera, who helped Verbeeck organize a special portrait event at a venue called the House of Yes. People could book a slot online, and if they were lucky enough to get one of the 45 time slots before they all sold out, Verbeek took their portrait on 8×10 black-and-white Polaroid Originals film using a Chamonix View Camera and what looks to be a Schneider 360mm f/6.8 Symmar S Copal BT lens.
The video sort of does double duty as both a behind the scenes look at shooting 8×10 Polaroid film that you can actually go out and buy today, and a “my first time shooting with an 8×10 camera” video. Verbeeck went from 0 experience to shooting about 60 portraits in the space of a day… talk about getting thrown into the deep end.
Fortunately, the results turned out well and everyone who participated walked away with a Polaroid print so large they probably didn’t even know the format existed:
Check out the full video up top to find out how this setup worked, watch Verbeeck learn how to use the Chamonix on the fly, and see lots more sample images from their one-day portrait project.
And if you liked this and want to see even bigger and badder Polaroid portraits, check out this feature on what it’s like using the world’s largest Polaroid camera, or learn about the life and work of portrait photographer Elsa Dorfman, who specialized in this massive format and passed away earlier this year.
