To Crop or Not To Crop...

A Sunday morning before leaving for work, thinking I might upload some more Polaroids from a Paris trip I took in November 2009 (I'm quite behind with my uploading...) There is a set of three images of the Pyramid at the louvre, but the composition of one is just slightly off centre. This annoys me, so I reach for the crop tool to correct this, and find that this produces a strange, uncomfortable feeling in me which opens up into...

The Great Polaroid Cropping Debate 2010

Now with my scanned Polaroid images I tend to trim off the frame (I will get on to why later), but crop in as close as possible to the edges to get as much of the original image as taken. But not this time. It felt slightly like crossing some kind of line, so, in the modern way, I put the question out to the world via Twitter:

"Here's an important ethical question: is it OK to crop a Polaroid when posting (I mean the image, not just frame/no frame)? See? Important!"

I was being deliberately pompous with the ethics thing, although the feeling I got as I cropped in (and as you will see it's a fairly minor crop) made me feel that this was something worth discussing. While I generally try to compose to the whole frame in other formats, and don't really like cropping too much, I've never felt squeamish before.


Here are some of the responses from Twitter:

redlomo Don't think it's unethical (no more than Photoshop on a digital shot). Yet, I never do it as it just doesn't seem right...

flovephoto It's tough, I mean, I don't think it's 'unethical', but in a sense you are 'de-polaroiding' the image, you know?

poopoorama I do it all the time. I don't care what format the image is. I will crop if needed.

ElliotXtreme I also vote "No". Polaroids are not like any other kind of image.

SanderBeenen thou shall never crop a Polaroid said mr. Land

amnesiak1978 Depends on the type of Polaroid. but I prefer the with frame.

mohler Surely it's some form of unethical? Postproduction of a Polaroid

theotherpete I think cropping is a last resort just as a rule, so a Polaroid would be no exception. Not that I don't, but I'd rather not.

catherinebuca Of course it is. No point being prissy, it's the final image that matters. Always.

blueperez I think it's fine to crop a Polaroid as for me, the Polaroid image is the starting point, I shoot for the quality of image. I crop mine to square, every time. I just prefer them like that.

roidrage It's all freedom of artistic expression, so what's the point arguing about it?

ElliotXtreme I've decided to change my vote to "yes". First time was emotional, second thought was pragmatic.

jeffrawdon I won't alter a Polaroid's composition by cropping, but I will alter contrast (frequently) or color (occasionally). My thoughts: Your image and your art, ergo your choice. Follow your heart and vision and you can't go wrong.

photoeditornyc photography and ethics DON'T MIX. Photographs are a lie wrapped in a fake fantasy under a cloud of falsehood.

richburroughs Crop it, modify it in Photoshop, whatever. It's just a tool.

joiebutter I almost always crop mine first it was bc Jen (of @shopbando ) always does hers http://u.nu/3p2k4

Moonsweetie I almost always crop the frame when I post polas taken w/my Hasselblad because the image never fills up the entire pola. Many times I will leave the frame on Integral film shots but I will crop all of them if I plan to layer many into a new final image. It is a type of film & a tool & just like her films and other tools it can be used however fits your needs and how you want the end result to look. :)

So it seemed there were three main camps:

1. Keep it sacrosanct - do not touch the frame, or it loses what makes it special
2. You can lose the frame, but don't crop in to the image. It's the image made by a Polaroid that's important.
3. What's the fuss about? If you need to crop, then crop! It's just another photographic technique.

So I created a poll. Here are some of the comments:

anniebee: .people crop images taken with every other analog film type so why not polaroid? I think we tend to see the image within the white border as sacrosanct but if the medium gets in the way of the message the end result can just be bleh. THAT being said, I don't think I've cropped any of my polaroids but now I want to reexamine some of my of my less than perfect shots to see if there's not a gem hidden within ;)

Jeff: I agree with anniebee. It's the photographer's art, and theirs to do with as they see fit.

For me personally though, I never crop one, and don't even crop out the frame on a peel-apart. I think (only my personal opinion for my own photos) it takes away some of the essence of what makes a Polaroid magical, but then I am a nostalgic purist. I also like that my approach encourages me to take my time before I press the shutter button knowing I'll expect to utilize the entire image. If I did crop one, it would more likely be a peel-apart than an integral film shot.

Rhiannon: I don't think I've cropped any - but that is probably because the film is so rare and precious that every shot is very considered. ( And even before it was rare it was already expensive)

Ultimately though, for me, its about the image - always in the first instance. Film, digital, photoshopping, polaroid..its about the image..not about maintaining the "integrity". Where do you draw the line ? Should you even scan them and tweak the colours to achieve a satisfactory print ??

Jess: It's not sacred ... It's just a polaroid. :-) As far as cropping is concerned, I just try to do what's best for the image. When I post photos online, I include as much info about the shot so (1) viewers don't feel like they've been misled about the format and any manipulation I've done and (2) others can learn if they're interested. The only time manipulation really bothers me is when people try to pass it off as something it's not.

Slimeface: Never really thought about it. I too don't believe the Polaroid to be sacred and suppose if one desires to cut, trim, color or alter their own prints, it's all good. I'm no purist. I probably did some adolescent hacking with scissors in the 1960's on my family's Polaroids now that I think about it.....

law7355: I'm not a purist in the strictest sense of the word, coming to photography from a Graphic Design and photoshop retoucher's point of view. With that in mind, for me at least, Polaroids tend to be that frustratingly inconsistent process, using often outdated film and a camera that cannot zoom and decides itself how long it wants to take, the epitome of 'analogue'. A Polaroid then tends to be the picture that was *wrestled* from the moment, and this is what makes a great shot magical. To reduce it to the same level of image-making/manipulation as everything else I do, commercial or for fun, means I may as well have shot on my Leica digital and cropped, adjusted, saturated and vignetted.

Those times I have used a Polaroid image in a design layout that's required it to be manipulated I've simply not thought of it as a polaroid image anymore; but that's really just me...

And (to make this look scientific) here are the results as of 20th January 2010:

(I put "other" in there for a laugh. I'm now intrigued...)

----


So my feelings:

Well actually my feelings on this solidified while reading through the comments that trapac made on one of her images for 'Roid Week last spring:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/teepee1/3509233939/

For me also, once it's scanned, it becomes a different thing. It becomes about the image. I want to be truthful to the original, and try to get the colour matched correctly, adjust the levels. But, unless it is, the frame isn't part of the image. Part of the process, sure, but it can detract from the picture, and make it about the object. Which is fine, if that's the point being made:

... but mostly the quality of the picture I've made is what I want to be the focus, the colours and composition. I don't want to get hung up on fetishising the physical Polaroid in a scan. Although I'm happy to change my mind, depending on circumstances.

However, as I try to compose as much as possible through the lens, I also dislike cropping too much in other formats (except cropping square...) And because the Polaroid comes out framed, it doesn't feel right to play with the perfection of that. Until I had an image that needed cropping to make it what I had intended when shooting.

"So Jake! Stop whittering on, and show us the image that caused all this fuss! Jeez!"

Okay. But promise you won't think less of me...

Here's the original, framed:

Here's the original without the frame:

Aaaargh! It's off centre! And slightly askew! Nooooo! So finally:

When I look at it like that, it's such a minor crop, I feel a bit foolish. But The frame/no frame issue is interesting - what makes it a Polaroid? Is it the physical object? Is it the nature of the chemicals, and how they make the image look? Is it the process, the experience? Is it just a way of making images, no greater or lesser than others? Discuss...

Spelling this out makes it feel slightly precious to me, but I am somewhat precious about the original Polas. I can't imagine selling them, let alone giving them away as Jeff Hutton has done!

So to summarise my philosophy: crop out the frame (unless I don't) and don't crop the image (unless I do).

Please comment!