In the 70’s, Polaroid made seven 20x24 cameras, creating practically the biggest format available in analog photography. Very few people (ie: Andy Warhol) have ever been able to shoot and get to know these cameras, and they stand as feats in the history of analog. It’s always been a dream of mine to shoot with one.

In 2021, Ethan Moses, a modern camera genius, made his own version of the 20x24 polaroid. His 20x24 large format camera utilizes a direct positive reversal process to make instamatic type prints, similar to that of the original polaroids.

Ethan asked me to come shoot with his camera and create anything I wanted to and make a video about it, so of course I said yes. It was the experience of a lifetime.

The photos are shot directly on RA4 darkroom paper, and the photos are developed within the camera back—an invention of Ethan’s he calls “self developing backs.”

The process is fairly simple:

1. Develop the negative with a black and white developer so that we can activate only the negative part of the image (everywhere that is dark in the image).


2. Stop development with stop bath (vinegar or acetic acid) and re-expose to light so that everything that was not developed is excited by light to create a latent image.


3. After the latent image is formed we put in color developer, which cannot act on the negative but can act on the positive or latent image. Then you have a black and white negative on top of a color positive. This is the “wow” moment that everybody likes to watch.


4. Bleach out the b&w negative, and then you’re left with a color positive.