作者-Bigshilin Photonepo -FindBook 找書網

《NEPO Film & Her Book》- Bigshilin Photonepo

NEPO= Negative + Positive

一切都開始於對底片時代的懷念！從網路上知道，可以從拍立得公司生產的撕拉片，透過洗底的手法，取得一張大底片，可是當時拍立得公司的撕拉片已經完全停產，在市場上就只能找到富士公司生產的FP-100C撕拉片。我首選就只能使用它，發現按照網站教學去做，不是很困難的就可取得大㡳片。這個方法簡單說，就是用撕拉片拍完照後，可以同時拿到一張照片和一張負片，那張負片透過化學洗底過程，可以得到一張很像傳統的彩色大尺寸負片。

由於自身是黑白攝影的愛好者，朋友就介紹我黑白撕拉片FP-100B，或許可以得到一張大底片。FP-100B很少有人洗底成功，因為他在化學處理上，完全不同於FP-100C，為了找出正確的處理方法，花了不少的精神與時間。第一次洗底成功的結果，並沒有黑白負片，卻洗出一張具有「色彩」的彩色負片。

這張具有「色彩」的彩色負片，在經過掃描之後，它會呈現出色彩的正像，但是並非全彩，但其某些色彩光豔的程度即使用Photoshop也無法模擬出來。推測它的感光塗料可能含有螢光物質。這種特殊的色彩呈像，吸引我開始大量的拍攝FP-100B，長期觀察它洗底出爐的結果，發現這個隱藏版的非全彩的負片，同樣具有其他傳統底片的影像表達能力。

從因為懷舊想得到一張傳統的大底片，演變成認識，証實一個新的化學感光材料的存在，過程中再加上數位時代才有的掃瞄機與影像軟體的應用，找到有一種類比與數位時代的結合意義！在實驗與寫書的過程中，深深的感覺到撕拉片在方便與美麗的背後，它所牽涉到的撮影工具與材料，與當時的工業能力，商業利益，息息相關。

拍立得公司的創辦人蘭德博士留給後人，一句激勵人心的話：「人生要選最不可能達成的事來做。」，能説、敢說這句話，只有這位曠世奇才，因為他的科學和商業能力，無人能及。遇到這個隱藏版的特殊色彩負片，也算是＂被＂遇到了一件＂不可能的事＂，因緣巧合的開始有點了解博士的名言。我相信除了科學能量之外，對攝影的熱情和專注，也是完成這一次實驗和寫出這本書不可缺的重要力量。同時家人和朋友的支持與鼓勵更是一切的起點，這本書如果帶有豐沛的感情，他們扮演著很重要的角色！

1: ＂Don`t undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible＂ Edwin Land-Polaroid funder

2：富士公司在2014年宣布了FP-100B停產。

3：用FP-100B的洗底得到的負片，在書內的命名為＂NEPO＂film它就是一種負片，具有表達影像的能力，在相反則不軌( Reciprocity law failure)的呈現上,相對的提前。

Afterword

This project grew out of my nostalgia for analog photography. In particular, I loved and missed the process of developing film: the smell of the chemicals, the texture of the paper. As analog film became scarcer and scarcer, replaced by digital cameras, I longed to immerse myself in that process again. I was also fascinated by negatives, those inverted images printed on transparent plastic film, in which light and dark change places.

When I learned that Fujifilm’s FP-100C – at that time, one of the last remaining peel-apart instant films – produced large and detailed negatives, I was fascinated. I learned how to reclaim the negatives, using water and bleach to strip away the light-sensitive emulsion coating the plastic, revealing the image underneath. My nostalgia was satisfied.

But I have always been a lover of black and white photography, and I yearned for similarly large, clear negatives of black and white images. A friend introduced me to FP-100B, a black and white version of the peel-apart film with which I was already familiar. Unlike FP-100C, FP-100B was rarely processed in order to remove the emulsion and reveal the underlying negative images. I began to experiment.

As I did so, I found that the chemical process to reclaim FP-100B negatives was more complicated than the one used for FP-100C. I also discovered something startling: once the emulsions and coatings were stripped away, FP-100B negatives were characterized by vivid color. Unlike the positive image printed on the photo paper, the negative would emerge in brilliant shades of blue, red, orange, and yellow. In addition, certain portions of the negative image would actually contain positive shapes. It was this strange coexistence of positive and negative in the same film that led me to name FP-100B, as well as these reclaimed negatives, NEPO – that is, NEgative POsitive.

The unique appearance of these negative images inspired me to take more photos, and I began to experiment systematically. I discovered that these negatives could themselves be a creative medium. Out of my nostalgia-fueled attempt to obtain conventional black and white negatives emerged a new medium.

In order to achieve this, however, I needed digital technology. While the colors themselves were not altered digitally, their true brilliance, along with the details of the images, was only revealed after the negative images were scanned and displayed on a computer screen. The images in this book thus connect the analog and the digital eras. Useless scraps from analog processes have been transformed into digital art.

This is appropriate, because in the process of developing the NEPO images and writing this book, I developed a profound feeling that peel-apart instant film epitomizes the dependence of photography on industry. Scientific research and business imperatives enabled the development of this technology; however, as soon as there was no more profit to be made, the industry moved on, and these remarkable films became obsolete. Yet, as I hope I have shown, these negatives – which were originally waste products, remnants thrown away after the positive image photo was obtained – still have value.

The eminent Dr. Edwin Land, founder of Polaroid, once said, “Don’t undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.” Gradually, I have come to understand that Dr. Land’s words describe my own experience, as well as the philosophy that guided his own remarkable career. Although it was not my original intention, I was pushed by circumstances into undertaking a project – the development of NEPO images – that met both of Dr. Land’s requirements. As an analog technology whose potential can only be fully realized with digital era tools, such as scanners and image editing software, FP-100B negatives have truly moved from the realm of the impossible into that of the possible.

In closing, I wish to thank those who have supported me throughout this process of discovery. In addition to an understanding of the scientific background, passion for photography, and focus, the support and encouragement of family and friends has been essential to this undertaking. For me, their help was the foundation of it all; any warmth found within these pages comes from them.

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A positive image is one in which light and dark appear as we see them with our own eyes. A negative image is one which light and dark have been reversed, so that, for example, a tree appears to be bright, while the noon sky behind it is dark. Film negatives received their name because they provide a negative, or reversed, image, which is then used to produce a positive image print on photographic paper.

A peel-apart film is designed to be used with an instant camera. When you take a photo, it produces both a positive image snapshot on photo paper, and a negative of equal size to the print. These emerge together from the camera and must be peeled apart, hence the name.

Originally, I believed that FP-100B combined the characteristics of traditional negative and positive films. Now, however, I believe that this effect – in which positive images suddenly appear in an otherwise negative image – is due to the negative film being exposed to levels of light that are too high for it. When this limit is exceeded, the light – which would normally produce a dark shape in the negative shape – suddenly produces a bright positive image instead. The technical name for this phenomenon is Reciprocity-Law Failure.