Welcome to V Sonoma Gallery (V for virtual). I'll be featuring work from various artists but for the opening, I've dipped into my own archive from over twenty years ago - SX-70 altered Polaroids. I was original exposed (pun intended) to Polaroid films working with professional photographers. Most notably by long time friend, associate, fine artist and commercial photographer, Steve Francis (view his amazing body of work at stephenfrancisphotography.com).

SX-70 (Time-Zero) film had its own unique personality including the deep saturated colors and stable dyes that characterized the entire line of Polaroid professional color films — with one notable difference. Due to the film's gelatin-based emulsion and a Mylar covering that prevented water vapors to readily pass through it, the surface remained soft for up to an hour after developing. This allowed artists to press and manipulate the emulsion to produce impressionist-like painterly effects. SX-70 Polaroids (straight or altered) are literally one-of-kind originals and sadly the film was discontinued by Polaroid in late 2006.

Below are a few examples of my time with this unique medium.