Editing Instant camera (section)

== Creative techniques ==
{{Main|Polaroid art}}{{More citations needed section|date=December 2019}}Due to the way that instant film develops, several techniques to modify or distort the final image exist, which were utilized by many artists. The three main techniques used are SX-70 manipulation, emulsion lift, and image transfer. SX-70 manipulation is used with SX-70 Time Zero film and it allows the photographer to draw on or distort an image by applying pressure to it while it is developing. With an emulsion lift, it is possible to separate the image from the medium it developed on, and transfer it to a different one. Image transfers are used with peel-apart film, like packfilm, to develop the instant image into a different material by peeling the picture too early and adhering the negative onto the desired material. Polaroid encouraged the use of these techniques by producing videos about them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSAXit7rWjQ| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525180255/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSAXit7rWjQ| archive-date=2014-05-25 | url-status=dead|title=Polaroid SX-70 Manipulation Demo| website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=2019-11-06}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Polaroid Emulsion Transfer / Lift Demo|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqfxEJ85Ez4| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525190513/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqfxEJ85Ez4| archive-date=2014-05-25 | url-status=dead|language=en|access-date=2019-11-06}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Polaroid Image Transfer Demo|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3Y37yx5q_4| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525190654/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3Y37yx5q_4| archive-date=2014-05-25 | url-status=dead|language=en|access-date=2019-11-06}}</ref>

The artist [[Lucas Samaras]], for example, was among the first to modify the images taken with the Polaroid SX-70 through the "[[Polaroid transfer]]". Thus, he developed the series "autoentrevistas", a set of self-portraits in which he takes the place of a model in different circumstances.

John Reuter, the director of the [[Polaroid 20×24 camera]] studio, for years experimented with snapshot transfers.

[[Andy Warhol]] also made use of instant cameras. Warhol began taking snapshots to use as sketches of his popular [[Lithography|lithographs]]. In spite of this, their peculiar vision and the passage of time have turned these Polaroids into famous and interesting photographs from an artistic point of view. They are also part of [[pop art]] or [[pop culture]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.casualphotophile.com/2019/04/29/the-big-shot-polaroid-andy-warhols-pen-pencil/|title=The Big Shot Polaroid – Andy Warhol's Pen & Pencil|date=2019-04-29|website=Casual Photophile|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-06|archive-date=2020-05-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200512160950/https://casualphotophile.com/2019/04/29/the-big-shot-polaroid-andy-warhols-pen-pencil/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[David Hockney]] also utilised polaroids within his work to create [[Photomontage|photo collages]]. Hockney was skeptical about photography, until instant photography was suggested to him by a museum curator. In the 1980s he began to experiment and creating composite photo collages. These include portraits, still lifes and the iconic swimming pools that Hockney is known for. He admitted that his works are very Cubist and often reference [[Cubism|Synthetic Cubism]] with their distorted perspective. He later moved on from polaroids to 35mm film.