Hello Kitty : The hacked version

a

I got an email the other day from a reader with a link to some pretty amazing images. It seems William Mellott a.k.a Formica had found a way hack the infamous ‘Hello Kitty’ disposable camera to create eerily strange vignetted images with a very inventive process. I shot off an email, and Formica took a few minutes to explain just how he created these haunting images…

“The roll was pre-exposed so that pictures you took would show up around a hello kitty frame once developed. When I had the initial roll done I didn’t give them the camera,  but opened the camera and took out the cassette. I asked to have the cassette returned, and  then reloaded it with Centuria DNP 100 asa film.

I taped the end to the cassette and then in the dark wound it into the cassette and then onto the spool in the camera (as you advance the film it winds back into the cassette).

The outside “skin” of the camera said that the camera should use 400 asa film. The actual camera (which is just some Kodak disposable) says it’s loaded with 800 asa film.

I then developed it in bw chemistry (hc 110) and pushed the film by doubling the development time for a film like T-max. I scanned everything as colour and this is what i got. The extreme vignetting is from the camera itself.”

b

What creates the ‘hello kitty’ section of the image? Is that part of the printing process?
I’m not 100% true, but i think the film was exposed before being loaded in the camera with the hello kitty image. as only that initial roll has that frame on it.

Is there an internal mask that creates the vignette?
As far as i can tell there is no mask. It looks like your standard rectangular shape. It looks like the vignetting is an effect from the lens itself or something you can’t directly see when the camera back is open.

c

What gave you this crazy idea?
I’d read about reloading disposable cameras before. So when my sister gave me this Hello Kitty one, I knew once the initial roll was finished I’d be reloading it. I had no idea if the Hello Kitty framing would still be there or not. I wasn’t expecting the extreme vignetting, but I’m really happy with the results. I’d also been wanting to do some more experimenting with developing colour film in bw chemistry and this seemed the right opportunity.

Are you happy with the results, and would you do this again?
I’m extremely happy with the results. it looks like nothing any of my other cameras have really given me. I’ve already shot another roll in it and i plan to run a roll of regular bw film through it at some point. i also have a regular disposable that will be reloaded soon. but that of course will probably lack the wonderful vignetting this camera has.

As an American, how did you end up in Taiwan?
i came here to teach English, do a little travelling and learn some Chinese. i didn’t plan to stay so long originally, but these sort of things happen sometimes. Taiwan also offers lots of interesting things to photograph, so that is an added bonus as well.

d

See and Read more from William a.k.a. Formica here:

[Hat to tip to Jon Freeman for sending the links in.]