Book Review; "The Polaroid Book" (Taschen, 2012)

Although I have used Polaroid film cameras before, I have never owned one. The beauty of a Polaroid camera is that once you’ve taken a photograph with it you only have to wait for a few seconds in order to get a printout, which gradually appears as if by magic. If the print is not what you want then there is nothing to stop you taking the photograph again. The disadvantage (at least for the casual user) is that, because there is no intermediate darkroom stage, the photograph cannot be modified.

The “heyday” of the Polaroid camera probably occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, when many of the world’s foremost artists and photographers took up the camera in order to create instant art. Edwin Land, the inventor of the camera, encouraged keen young amateur and professional photographers to go out and be creative, using Polaroid cameras. The work that they brought back was sorted and the best material was archived. Working with, amongst others, Ansel Adams Land established an archive of thousands of high quality Polaroid photographs, from various sources, in Waltham, Massachusetts. This book features a varied and interesting cross section of some 250 reproductions of prints from the archive.

I did not have to study the book for long in order to realise that many of the featured prints were not mere snapshots, but carefully designed works of art. Take Peter Beard’s print, “Iman” (Image 1) for example. This appears to be a double, triple or multiple exposure which has been cleverly collated to produce a work of art that asks far more questions than it answers. A darkroom expert or digital photographer skilled in the use of “Photoshop” techniques would struggle to produce an image such as this (assuming, of course, that Beard has not simply used his Polaroid to photograph the completed work!).

Image 1: Peter Beard; “Iman” (1987)

Featured Polaroid artists include Ansel Adams, Harry Callahan, Chuck Close, Elliott Erwitt, Robert Frank, David Hockney (for a collage of Polaroid prints), Robert Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton and Andy Warhol. The range of subject matter and styles is huge, taking in virtually every genre although, not surprisingly, portraits and self-portraits form the biggest set. Within this set, however, the photographers have used imagination and skill to produce some stunning results, such as Arno Minkkinen’s “selfie” (Image 2).

Image 2: Arno Rafael Minkkinen; “Self Portrait, Foster’s Pond” (1989)

Whilst Minkkinen’s photograph has been carefully set up, many other images “capture the instant” rather well, which is what Polaroid photography was (is?) all about. However, my enjoyment of this collection came from trawling the images for ideas for my own work and admiring the skill and creativity that went into their production, in all parts of the world. Karen Kommer’s night-time images of pavement shadows and reflections (for example Image 3) score on both counts, whilst Ferdinando Dolfo’s daytime street scene (Image 4) also holds my eye.

Image 3: Karen Kammer; “Fantastiche Verteilingen" (1980)

Image 4: Ferdinando Dolfo: “A Philosophical Walk” (1983)

This collection (which was edited by Barbara Hitchcock, the director of cultural affairs for the Polaroid Corporation) demonstrates how photographers from all walks of life can take to and develop a new medium (in this case the Polaroid camera) in order to produce works of great creativity and originality. Developments in Polaroid photography over the 40 or so years since the technique was invented have encouraged devotees to use far more sophisticated photographic techniques than simple “point and shoot” and the results are, in some cases, stunning. The onset of digital photography, with its instant readout on the back of the camera, has to some extent overshadowed Polaroid photography in recent years. Nevertheless there is still a place for the Polaroid camera today and it has many devotees: the images in this collection demonstrate why.

·      Action Point: inspired by Images 1-4, I should aim in the next year to produce a layered photo-collage, an original self-portrait, an atmospheric night-time shot and an image where a road sign plays an important role in the composition. To increase motivation I should try to have a purpose for producing the images – perhaps incorporating them into OCA project work and/or photographic competition entries.