The Language of Polaroid: Exploring Your Creative Potential
with Jari Poulin
February 5 – March 12, 2026
Course Description
Creative freedom, analog film, instant results!
Polaroid cameras and instant film offer a unique allure and magic that sets them apart from any other medium. From Polaroid’s remarkable history, characterized by Edwin Land’s invention of a camera and film capable of instant development without a darkroom, to the latest Polaroid models featuring Bluetooth connectivity with a smartphone app, you now have unprecedented options for creating one-of-a-kind images on Polaroid’s distinctive signature film.
Join artist Jari Poulin for an online workshop for those excited to learn the language of Polaroid from a long-time lover of Polaroid’s delightful allure. Over six weeks, combine your photographic vision with the magic and immediacy of a film that develops itself and the myriad possibilities it has as an art form. No two people are the same like no two Polaroids are the same. In life, just like in our photography, it’s our imperfections that make us unique.
Meeting once a week for two-hour sessions, Jari’s gatherings are dedicated to igniting inspiration and learning the art of capturing images with Polaroid NOW+ or i2 cameras. Explore multiple techniques for manipulating images to convey your personal vision. Discover how to utilize Polaroid as a medium for artistic expression, from installations to creating larger versions of your Polaroids through scanning. Weekly assignments span still life, portrait, landscape, multiple exposure, and abstract photography. Jari shares insights into Polaroid’s history to provide context, then immerse yourself in the inspiring works of other artists using Polaroid materials, learn techniques for getting the best results from your camera and film, become proficient in using the Polaroid app for hands-off photographing, explore emulsion lifts, and learn techniques for enhancing images through hand coloring. Additionally, we examine various exhibition formats to effectively showcase your work.
A thriving Polaroid community is expanding daily, with users worldwide sharing their work and inspiring each other through creative Polaroid approaches. You have the opportunity during this workshop to join this flourishing community and put your own mark on the photographic art being created with instant film and experimental approaches. Step into the world of Polaroid photography with Jari and unlock endless possibilities for artistic exploration and expression.
Additional Information
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
What You Should Know:
A Polaroid Now+ Generation 2 Instant Camera with filter set ($149.99) or a top-of-the-line Polaroid I-2 Instant Camera ($599.00) is required for this workshop. You will also need to use at least one or more packs of film each week. A pack has 8 frames. You can use Polaroid i-Type Film ($16.99) or 600 film ($19.99). It’s recommended to try both B&W and Color film, and a tripod is highly recommended.
Special Notes:
Class will meet 12:30 – 2:30 pm (Mountain Time) on Thursdays starting February 5 and ending March 12 (six online group sessions). Enrollment is limited to 12 participants.
Zoom Video Conferencing software (available for no charge from Zoom.com) will be used to facilitate the class sessions. Further details will be emailed to registrants.
Santa Fe Workshops always aims to produce a high-quality experience for our online attendees. That said, variables including regional and local internet provider speeds, traffic on Zoom's servers, and your own computing hardware can contribute to a less than ideal streaming event. While we do our best to minimize the impact of these variables, they are outside the control of Santa Fe Workshops.
Policies:
View Withdrawal and Transfer Policies for online programs.
For the convenience of participants, recordings of each class session are posted privately for one month after the end of each session. Santa Fe Workshops takes the recordings down after one month to protect the intellectual property of our instructors.
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about
Jari Poulin is an artist and printmaker using photography as the main expression of her practice. Her passion for Polaroid began in the 1990s with emulsion transfers and has recently become a renewed focus in her work. She holds her MFA from Lesley University College of Art and Design (formerly the Art Institute of Boston). Jari’s work is primarily portrait-based and explores ideas of the ephemeral, memory, and identity. As a former dancer/choreographer, her work often features movement and dance or the implied sense of physicality and kinetic energy.
Throughout her various bodies of work, Jari often pushes settled visual boundaries to disrupt information in the images. She is interested in how the brain chooses to see, fill in the blanks, and discard visual information as is common in selective memory. As an artist and fine-art photographer, Jari’s images are photographically based, but at times she seeks to challenge traditional notions of the photograph by using experimental techniques and various combinations of digital and analog processes such as mixed media and printmaking processes such as polymer photogravure, monotypes, and stenciling within her practice.
Jari is the recipient of many national and international awards including the International Photo Awards (IPA), 15th and 23rd Annual Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, 7th Worldwide Pollux Awards, Moscow International Foto Awards (MIFA), Prix de la Photographie, Paris (PX3), International Color Awards, ND Magazine Awards, Black and White Magazine Portfolio Award Winner, Color Magazine Portfolio Prize, the Ink Shop International Mini Print Juried Exhibit, and has been published those affiliated magazines and online galleries. She shares her time between her Ithaca NY home and studio and NYC.
Website: jaripoulin.com
Instagram: @jaripoulin and @going_polaroid
