By Elin Spring
Momentous advances have always been driven by the engine of technology, whether in the sciences or in the arts. Look at the way the digital revolution has made photography both instantaneous and malleable, changing not only the way we make images but how we think about truth. When Edwin Land introduced the Polaroid camera and instant film in 1948, it transformed photography in ways few could have anticipated. The Polaroid Project: At the Intersection of Art and Technology illuminates the myriad effects of Land’s invention, just a few blocks from where it all began in Cambridge, MA. The expansive exhibit will be on view at the MIT Museum in two parts, during which the technical objects will remain on view while the artwork changes. Part I is currently on view through February 23rd, 2020 and Part II will be on view from March 9th– June 21st, 2020.

“Second Generation” Polaroid cameras 1957-1972 (courtesy MIT Museum) Installation photo by Elin Spring
Polaroid’s first priority was always as a market for amateur photography. And in fact, they became the social media of the late 20th century, alluring buyers with instant souvenirs of shared moments and important events. Remarkably, they simultaneously advanced photographic art in two groundbreaking ways. Firstly, through the shrewd development in the 1960’s of their Artist Support Program to test and offer feedback on new products. Secondly, with the complementary establishment of their dazzling Polaroid Collection, complete with an active traveling exhibition program. Polaroid’s inspired alliance of art, technology and commerce unleashed an explosion of experimentation and led to Polaroid’s marketing success, especially through the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Ansel Adams, “Cascades, 1956,” Polaroid Polapan 4×5 film Type 53 (Courtesy The Polaroid Collection) Photo from exhibit catalog by Elin Spring

Harold Edgerton “Hammer Toss, 1962,” Polaroid PolaPan 4×5 film Type 52 (Gus and Arlette Kayafas Collection) Installation photo by Elin Spring

Lennart Nilsson “Human Embryo 5mm, 4 Weeks Old, From Left Side, 1974,” Gelatin silver print from Polaroid Positive/Negative 4×5 film Type 55 (OstLicht Collection, Vienna) Installation photo by Elin Spring
Polaroid’s earliest artistic collaboration was with Ansel Adams, who convinced Edwin Land to recruit others to test its products, from famous artists like Harold Edgerton, André Kertész and Lennart Nilsson to emerging artists like Olivia Parker and David Levinthal. In the 1960’s, Marie Cosindas helped develop Polaroid’s first color product. Her experimental work with filters, heat, and extended development times garnered the attention of John Szarkowski and led to a solo show at MoMA, foreshadowing Polaroid’s importance in the fine art world.

TOP: André Kertész “October 24, 1981” Polaroid SX-70 film (Courtesy Stephen Bulger Gallery)
BOTTOM: André Kertész “August 13, 1979” Polaroid SX-70 film (Courtesy Stephen Bulger Gallery for the estate of André Kertész) Installation photo by Elin Spring

David Levinthal “Untitled, from the series Modern Romance, 1983-1985″ Polaroid SX-70 film (courtesy of the artist). Photo from exhibition catalog by Elin Spring
Instant photography was a big deal but Polaroid represented much more than that. Two things in particular ignited the art world: the unique look of Polaroid films, especially Polacolor with its radically lush color saturation and deep blacks and the sheer range of sizes, from the Polaroid SX-70 (introduced in 1972) that produced diminutive 3 ¼”x 3 ¼” prints to the favored darling 20”x 24” camera (1976) to the singular 40”x 80” camera (1977), a space hog that was housed at the MFA, Boston.

Lucas Samaras “Serpent Green Reclining Nude, 1984,” Polaroid Polacolor II assemblage (Courtesy Pace Gallery) Installation photo by Elin Spring

Bruce Charlesworth TOP to BOTTOM: “Untitled, 1978”, “Untitled 1979”, “Untitled, 1979,” Hand-painted Polaroid SX-70 film (Courtesy of the artist) Installation photo by Elin Spring
Polaroid’s disruptive technology set off a tsunami. Lucas Samaras became a trailblazer with his large grids of wonky self-portraits using double exposure to disjoint his face and body and altered sequencing to expand perceptions of angle and time. Artists like David Hockney and Joyce Neimanas also famously experimented with overlapping images and jagged edges. Others like Bruce Charlesworth, Sheri Lynn Behr and John Reuter blended their photography with different hand-based media, drawing and painting on their prints. Non-photographers like Chuck Close and Robert Rauschenberg were enticed to use Polaroid techniques to integrate printmaking, collage and photography.

Sheri Lynn Behr TOP: “Headshot., 1988” BOTTOM: “Over/under, 1989” Manipulated Polaroid SX-70 film (The Polaroid Collection) Installation photo by Elin Spring

Robert Rauschenberg “From the Bleacher Series: Sri Lanka Bags I, 1988,” Manipulated Polaroid 20×24 PolaPan film on aluminum (Courtesy Robert Rauschenberg Foundation) Installation photo by Elin Spring

Andy Warhol “Committee 2000 Champagne Glasses, 1981,” Polaroid Polacolor film (Collection Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona) Installation photo by Elin Spring

Barbara Crane “The Red and the Black, 1984,” 117 Polaroid Polacolor film Type 669 photographs displayed in film carriers (Courtesy of the artist) Installation photo by Elin Spring

Damien Hustinx “Reproduction et Extinction de la Couleur, 1983,” Polaroid SX-70 film (OstLicht Collection, Vienna) Installation photo by Elin Spring
In the 1970’s, the performance of image making seemed to become as compelling as the pictures themselves, making Polaroid a cultural icon as artists like Andy Warhol and Robert Mapplethorpe jumped on board. The “object-ness” of Polaroid prints was further highlighted in pieces that incorporated the image frames and even the carriers that held Polaroid films, as in the work of Barbara Crane, Damien Hustinx and Mark Klett. Process became part of the message as artists like Barbara Kasten and Ellen Carey utilized Polaroid film’s chemical markings in their abstract works. Renowned portrait work by Chuck Close, Joyce Tenneson and Dawoud Bey emphasize Polaroid’s immediacy and intimacy.

Barbara Kasten “Construct PC/2-A, 1981,” Polaroid 20×24 Polacolor film (The Polaroid Collection) Photo from exhibition catalog by Elin Spring

Ellen Carey “Pulls (CMY), 1997” Polaroid 20×24 Polacolor composite (Courtesy of the artist, Jayne H. Baum Gallery, NYC and M+B Gallery, Los Angeles, The Polaroid Collection). Photo from exhibition catalog by Elin Spring

Dawoud Bey “Josef, 1994,” Polaroid 20×24 Polacolor composite (The Polaroid Collection) Photo from exhibition catalog by Elin Spring
It is nearly impossible to describe the expansive reach of Polaroid, artistically, culturally, or industrially. Accompanying the impressive array of American artwork, The Polaroid Project expands on the company’s notable technical and industrial contributions and includes work by some European photographers, who joined the fray after Polaroid expanded operations to the Netherlands in the mid-1960’s. But one of my favorite aspects of the exhibit is home-grown. At the close of the exhibit is a large, interactive projection screen featuring the work of local artists like Karl Baden, Judith Black and Vaughn Sills, whose photographs and accompanying testimonials describe how Polaroid’s “intersection of art and technology” advanced their own work.

Photograph and commentary by Karl Baden. Installation photo by Elin Spring

Photograph and commentary by Judith Black. Installation photo by Elin Spring

Photograph and commentary by Vaughn Sills. Installation photo by Elin Spring
For more information about this exhibit and associated programming, go to: https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/thepolaroidproject

Feature Image: Guy Bourdin, “Charles Jourdan, 1978” C-Print on Fujiflex paper (Courtesy The Guy Bourdin Estate/ Louise Alexander Gallery).