A new exhibit featuring more than 200 photographs and artifacts from over 100 artist-photographers opened June 3 at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.
The Polaroid Project: At the Intersection of Art and Technology will give patrons a look at the history of Polaroid pictures and cameras, as well as show how the Polaroid Corp.’s invention changed photography, and our expectations of it, forever. The exhibition is split into eight sections: Observations, Theaters, Interrogations, Arrangements, Impressions, Expressions, Contemplations and Configurations.
“This exhibition tells the fascinating story of how art and technology collided to become one of the biggest photography phenomena in American history embraced by artists and everyday people alike,” said Andrew Walker, executive director of the Amon Carter Museum. “How photography as a medium, an experience and an expression has evolved over time is extremely important to us, and the Polaroid Project is about how that element of instantaneous gratification from photography as a medium began.”
In telling the story of how, over six years, this exhibit came to be, curator William Ewing had to start with a photography show he put together seven years ago while working as the director of the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 2010 he received a notice from a bankruptcy judge in Minneapolis that his museum’s Polaroid collection was going to be repatriated and sold. To try to save his museum’s collection of Polaroids, Ewing mounted an exhibit titled Polaroid in Peril.
“I had an astonishing reaction to Polaroid in Peril, and that brings us to, perhaps, why we are here today together,” he said. “I was overwhelmed by the positive feeling on the part of the public. People came to me almost in tears. Younger people were astonished at the beauty of the pictures, at the richness of the tones. They felt they were not seeing the richness of colors in other conventional photographic media. Older people came to me with stories of Polaroids in their families.”
That exhibit forms the centerpiece of the Carter’s show. “We didn’t just rely on the collection to build this exhibition,” Ewing said. “We contacted as many photographers as we could and said, ‘What else have you got?’”
Those who visit the exhibition at the Carter will see pieces from 3-by-4-inch portraits to mosaics built from 20-by-24-inch prints. In addition to the Polaroid cameras and film on display, the exhibit features Polaroid camera prototypes made from paper, plastic and wood. Interactive cards provide information on Polaroid cameras, film, history and the Polaroid Corp. Some of the most recognizable cameras in the exhibit, for those of a certain age, include the Swinger from 1965, SX-70 from 1972 and the OneStep from 1977.
Professionals and hobbyists alike have used Polaroid’s cameras and film to capture everything from family celebrations and fashion photoshoots to scientific observations and criminal justice documentation.
As the founder of the Polaroid Corp., Edwin Land (1901-1991) emphasized the company’s commitment to art. He believed his invention would serve the community in not only work and play, but in the advancement of democracy itself. Land’s invention of the Polaroid camera, which he debuted to the public in 1947, revolutionized photography. By the mid-1960s more than half of American households would own a Polaroid camera.
“I know this for certain, because some of the photographers have told me this, that they never ever expected to see some of these pictures framed on a wall,” Ewing said. “That they were only done for the fun of making the picture at the time … So that in a way freed them up just to play, and you have the sense of this play” in the exhibit.
The Amon Carter Museum will host events related to the exhibit during its display. Ellen Carey, whose work is included in the exhibit, will talk about her work with Polaroid at 6:30 p.m. on June 15. Families with children ages 7-12 can create a photo-inspired art project at 10:30 a.m. on July 29. Reservations for the family program are required. The museum will sell an exhibition catalogue, featuring 170 artist-photographers.
The Polaroid Project will travel from Fort Worth to museums around the world during the next two years. It will be at Austria’s WestLicht Museum for Photography Dec. 5 to March 4, 2018. It will travel during 2018 and 2019 to Italy, Germany, China, Singapore and Canada and make one last stop in Massachusetts.
THE POLAROID PROJECT: AT THE INTERSECTION OF ART AND TECHNOLOGY
June 3 – Sept. 3
Amon Carter Museum of American Art
3501 Camp Bowie Blvd.
Fort Worth 76107
www.cartermuseum.org