Chloe Aftel is an editorial photographer and an old school polaroid artist, and she's lovely enough to teach you how to work that old look (sans Instagram filter) too. It's the Impossible Project workshop, which focuses only on impossible project film and none of the older, expired stocks. Usually you can only find out about it through her email list or Tumblr, where you can find out when the next one is and how you can get on the list. The class is on how to use impossible film and how to find a way to work with models that gets the emotional reaction you want in shots. It's a three-hour intensive with a small group. She has two models who each person has time to work with and they go over the film and how to use it extensively. Aftel teaches how to work with the film, from seeing how it handles light and how you want push or play with it, to the basics like how to use your flash and what it means that different films shoot at different speeds. Her favorite film to use is from the impossible project but she also uses expired 35mm and 120 mm film.
The two models, each one for an hour, are also there to help people understand how to talk to models and direct them in order to get the emotion you want out the image. "You want your subjects to trust you, but you don't want a flaccid image, so you have to figure out how to interact with the talent to get what you want. And more over, you have to have an idea of what that is."
Slideshow
Photographer Chloe Aftel has mastered the technique & look of beautiful archival polaroids. She teaches an intense workshop as well, so keep checking her Tumblr page for more info on when her next lesson will be.
