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An abstract image of a soft, blurred sphere floating in a hazy landscape. The sphere is pale white with a sliver of bright blue, set against a backdrop of muted blue and sandy yellow.

Photography: Jeff McLane's Solaroids are a hazy photographic dream

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Date
24 June 2013

Remember that feeling when your mum took you to see the solar eclipse, and you closed your eyes tightly but the sun streamed straight through them so that the cells in your eyelids turned the light bright blue? That’s exactly what Jeff McLane’s Solaroids project reminds me of, except that his gorgeous photographic experiments are just that, whereas mine were a semi-dangerous attempt to watch the eclipse without my special glasses on.

Created by directly exposing large format Fuji instant film to ultraviolet light, Jeff’s games with sunlight produce beautiful results; glowy, hazy images that fall halfway between something you might spot through the Hubble Telescope in outer space and something you might find on one of your holiday pictures, when someone does a dodgy job developing them. Very beautiful indeed.

A soft, blurred teal circle floats in the centre of a hazy, pale grey background. The image has the appearance of a faded polaroid with a thick white border.
Above

Jeff McLane: Solaroids

An abstract composition featuring four pale circles of varying sizes. They are arranged in a loose cluster against a soft, blurred gradient of blue, purple and pink.
Above

Jeff McLane: Solaroids

A white circle floats in the centre of a soft blue glow. A tiny purple dot sits just below it against a pale, muted background.
Above

Jeff McLane: Solaroids

An abstract composition featuring a soft, blurred shape of bright blue against a muted grey background. A crisp white circle sits off-centre within the blue area.
Above

Jeff McLane: Solaroids

An abstract image of a bright white circle centred within a soft, glowing blue shape. A hazy, olive-green blur surrounds the blue form against a pale grey background.
Above

Jeff McLane: Solaroids

An abstract composition of blurred blue and pale yellow washes of colour. A small, sharp white semi-circle sits in the centre of the blue field.
Above

Jeff McLane: Solaroids

Two white circles are aligned vertically against a bright blue background. The image is framed by a thin white border, like a polaroid.
Above

Jeff McLane: Solaroids

Two white circles float against a soft, blurred gradient of blue and grey. The image is presented as a polaroid with a white border.
Above

Jeff McLane: Solaroids

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About the Author

Maisie Skidmore

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Maisie joined It’s Nice That fresh out of university in the summer of 2013 as an intern before joining full time as an Assistant Editor. Maisie left It’s Nice That in July 2015.

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