With an old Polaroid camera I preserve memories and fleeting contemplations. It freezes snapshots from life. A bird dies, a flower bursting out, winter passes and most of it goes on in silence. The images are photographed with a special polaroid film that was manufactured by accident. If left alone the polaroid images degrade and eventually fade entirely to black. I snap the shot and the chemistry slowly darkens the film in a gradient from blue-green tones to yellowish-brown over approximately 24 hours until the photographs turn black. I have to stop the degradation by destroying the polaroid, essentially separating the layers of the film and halting the chemical process inside. The expression can be affected but it is never possible to completely control. I am fascinated by random as a part of the expression. It's like life, you can not control everything.
Fade to Black has been shown at various galleries around Sweden.
Martina Holmberg
My name is
Martina Holmberg and I am a freelance photographer based in
Stockholm, Sweden. I combine writing with photojournalism, where women's
different living conditions have been a common thread in my work for many
years. I find just as much inspiration in creating a feeling or an inner state on a
more subtle level. In the books Fade to Black and Mayfly, I work exclusively with
a special polaroid film where the coincidence is an important part for the
expression in the images.
With an old Polaroid camera I preserve memories and fleeting contemplations.
It freezes snapshots from life. A bird dies, a @lower bursting out, winter passes
and most of it goes on in silence. The images are photographed with a special
polaroid film that was manufactured by accident. If left alone the polaroid images
degrade and eventually fade entirely to black. I snap the shot and the chemistry
slowly darkens the film in a gradient from blue-green tones to yellowish-browns
over approximately 24 hours until the images turns black. I have to stop the
degrading by destroying the polaroid, essentially separating the layers of the film
and halting the chemical process inside. The expression can be affected but it is
never possible to completely control. I am fascinated by the random as a part of
the expression. It's like life, you can not control everything.
Fade To Black ( Lux Publishing 2012) is my first published book. The work has
also been shown at various galleries around Sweden.
