Vanessa Pino's altered imagery

Vanessa is a self-taught analog photographer who lives in South Florida with her husband and two beagles. She enjoys experimenting with various art forms but film photography continues to be her preferred medium.

See more of Vanessa's work on instagram at @vanessampshootsfilm

A/A: What is the process that created these images?

VP: The first set of photos on the white background are of image transfers made by taking 35mm printed photos from a lab, dipping them quickly into a shallow pan of bleach and then making an image transfer onto Bristol paper. This process was inspired by a book that came out in 2005 by Karen Michel titled The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery. I was introduced to it when I took an art journaling workshop Karen put on that was based on different techniques in her book. The second set of images were using Polaroids that didn't come out as planned. I sliced the Polaroid at the bottom to get to the inside layers and separated the plastic front layer from the backing. From there I used alcohol inks in different colors to alter the colors of what the original print was. It was simply another way of repurposing images that I wasn't initially satisfied with, rather than tossing them out. A/A: Tell us about the 100 Day Project.

VP: A few years ago via Instagram I came across a post on The 100 Day Project, which was created by Elle and The Great Discontent. I enjoyed the idea of taking part in a creative practice with others at the same time and seeing everyone else's work. Unfortunately, I must have started a few different times but wasn't able to stick with it. However, in 2019 as I began cataloging and archiving my film photos and negatives, I thought of having my 100 day project dedicated to different types of altered images, using mostly prints of my photos. I thoroughly enjoyed the process since it required me to sit and make something each day, even on days when I wasn't feeling creative or inspired. I highly recommend the project to anyone who feels stuck in their creativity or simply wants to try a new creative outlet. A/A: How long have you practiced photography?

VP: I've been practicing instant and analog photography since about 2007. My interest initially began with Polaroids and then migrated into 35mm and became really interested in lo-fi and Lomography style of photography. By day I'm a digital marketer and I think having a hobby like analog photography has been a nice balance in which I can slow down and be more in the moment. A/A: What are you working on now?

VP: It may sound boring but I've been continuing to catalog all of my analog and instant photos. I never consciously expected to keep this hobby going for over 13 years, but in that amount of time, I didn't initially start with any sort of organizational system. I recently finished my 35mm photos and am now moving onto my 120 photos and Polaroids.

Prior to feeling the need to get things organized, I finally tried my hand at doing my first film soup in 2020 shortly after the pandemic. It really was a lot of fun developing my own film for the first time and I'd like to keep exploring different film soups in the near future.