French photographer Matt Georges presents his experiments with the emulsion lift process—a fragile, permanent treatment of Polaroid film that produces a new way of looking at photographic composition.

Words and Photos Matt Georges

In 2008, Polaroid announced it was shutting down for good. At that time, I only knew of the classic Polaroid format—white-squared frames, shake it and you’ve got a photo. So I decided to jump straight into this world before it became extinct—what I found was a whole new realm of experimental photography.

I ordered tons of different types of instant film until my fridge was overflowing with canisters stuffed between the lettuce and tomatoes. Through Internet research, a crazed community with a serious goal to keep Polaroid film alive opened my eyes to its many applications. From the 600 film family (squared white frame) I had been shooting, I moved to 100 film (rectangular, about 3.5”x4.5”) and discovered that using different processes through different cameras and other variations of instant film could be applied to many situations—from action to portraiture and beyond. One of these was the emulsion lift process…

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