Polaroid Color I-Type Retinex Edition Double Pack Instant Film (£31.99 incl VAT)

Double pack of colour instant film with a mix of ten different multi-colour round frames inspired by Polaroid founder Edwin Land's Retines colour theory in two packs of eight for contemporary Polaroid I-Type cameras. Polaroid colour films have a rich texture and tone for a warm retro look. 

You can read more about the Retinex theory below.

Manipulation and emulsion lifts are possible with all Polaroid Original films.

No battery in cartridge, only compatible with contemporary I-Type cameras, not compatible with vintage Polaroid cameras. 

 Type: Colour Instant film with round multi-color retinex pattern frames
Format: I-Type
ISO: 640 (film speed may vary , allow for +/-⅓ stops)
Exposures: 2 x 8
Development time: 10-15 minutes

Edwin land's Retinex theory.

The story of Retinex begins in the early 1970s, when Edwin Land, amidst a flurry of research endeavours, patents, and innovations, found time to delve into the enigma of color constancy. This intriguing aspect of human perception showed the unchanging perception of an object's color, despite different light levels.

Confused? Well, picture the phenomenon of color constancy like this: you will perceive an apple as red, whether bathed in morning sunlight or shrouded in darkness at dusk. But why?

It all comes down to something called illumination context. Light illumination gives your brain the context to interpret what you see. So if there is darkness around something like an apple and the apple is darker, you will believe it is red instead despite its 'hex code' being something like dark blue.

Illumination context is crucial because the brain must work super fast to identify something; primitive humans needed to avoid dodgy mistakes when selecting food or encountering a predator. And given that color often signals peril in nature, the evolution of this perceptive system became a vital survival mechanism.

After hundreds of experiments and demonstrations of color constancy, Land coined the term Retinex– a merging of the words 'Retina' and 'Cortex'. With Retinex, he sought to show how the brain and eye work together to show colors that aren't there.

Land noted that when we 'see' color, we actually notice the length of the light waves coming from what we're looking at.For instance, seeing the color red could mean two things. You might be seeing the exact length of light waves that make up red, giving you the sensation of red. Or, you could see a combination of two different sizes of waves that, when mixed, create the same effect as red.

So, simply put, even if there's no red light, you can still perceive a 'red'. Trippy, huh?

Add this to the phenomenon of color constancy, and boom; suddenly, color gets seriously weird.

Land's theory explained a world of color craziness. Purposefully being able to fool our perception systems into perceiving different colors depending on our surroundings was not only intriguing but also capable of generating some serious fun. With carefully constructed color combinations, color's meaning becomes downright questionable, which paves the way for some mind-melting art.