The Happy Accident

"The Happy Accident" used to be a much more frequent occurrence in photography. There were so many steps where a photographer could ruin a shot, or end up with a wonderful mistake. Film development, darkroom work, getting the film into and out of the camera, you name it, you could screw something up. Now that we have gone digital, so many images are clear, crisp and precise. Moving cleanly from shutter release to Photoshop and beyond. What I have noticed is that people are creating the happy accident again. TTV, Polaroids, Holgas, Dianas, Photoshopping in dirt and scratches, all to make it look like you messed up your film or that you have a cheap lens, or terrible light leaks. With the mistakes comes a human vulnerability as well as a nostalgia that we have for images that remind of us of old family pictures. The photo at the top of the page is a Polaroid that I took recently, that has either a chemical stain or a light leak down the top. I thought it kind of looked like a shaft of light and added to the mood that I was trying to create for the photo.

(c)2008 Jennifer Dennis Potter, all rights reserved for all photos.