I watched Mr. Polaroid the other night. While it was interesting, I found it lacking in many ways. I know it was mostly about Mr. Land - a genius, if a lousy businessman and not necessarily Mr. Good Guy. And while he was progressive in many ways, he was also a man of his time - meaning rather regressive when it came to his employees. One aspect of the business that wasn't touched on at all was the relationship Polaroid had with artists. There have been books and exhibitions about how artists have employed the Polaroid - from sx-70's to the 20 x 24. Here's a piece from Medium that talks about it. https://medium.com/about-artlist/the-art-of-the-polaroid-7a600d0c5ccd
Love cameras and photography! Marked these to watch later and sent emails to urge Congress to save public media. Adding it to my daily outreach to Congress.
Saw (and can recommend) both for different reasons. Jang was quite the good B&W photographer (amongst other things) and Dr. Land was quite the innovator and egotist who did some good things along the way (technically and socially)- while failing miserably on both counts at other times. Worthwhile stories each...
Watched the Polaroid documentary last night. The more things change the more they stay the same. Land appeared to be progressive but his involvement in South African apartheid truly showed what obsession can do to a person’s brain regardless of the century.
Thanks for bringing attention to the film about Michael Jang and his work. Michael and I were classmates at CalArts in the’70s. I saw the beginnings of the Jang Family series his paparazzi series. Some of my photographs are in the beginning of the film, 50cent photo sale (crit) and portrait of Michael of his back. It’s great seeing how Michael’s work has evolved in recent years. He is a brilliant artist and photographer.
Thank you Andy for highlighting these movies! I like E. Land’s comment about great inventions happening when the world is not ready for it. AI comes to mind today, as well as its cousins, like autonomous human-like robots and photo and other art-making software.
If by "public media" you are writing about NPR and PBS you may want to reconsider your position. These "public media" told you repeated lies during the Covid era. They lied about how dangerous Covid was. They lied that lockdowns would be for two weeks. They lied that there were no alternative treatments. They lied about the need for a vaccine. They lied saying the vaccine was safe and effective.
I could recount all the non-Covid lies but it would get boring.
I watched Mr. Polaroid the other night. While it was interesting, I found it lacking in many ways. I know it was mostly about Mr. Land - a genius, if a lousy businessman and not necessarily Mr. Good Guy. And while he was progressive in many ways, he was also a man of his time - meaning rather regressive when it came to his employees. One aspect of the business that wasn't touched on at all was the relationship Polaroid had with artists. There have been books and exhibitions about how artists have employed the Polaroid - from sx-70's to the 20 x 24. Here's a piece from Medium that talks about it. https://medium.com/about-artlist/the-art-of-the-polaroid-7a600d0c5ccd
Love cameras and photography! Marked these to watch later and sent emails to urge Congress to save public media. Adding it to my daily outreach to Congress.
Saw (and can recommend) both for different reasons. Jang was quite the good B&W photographer (amongst other things) and Dr. Land was quite the innovator and egotist who did some good things along the way (technically and socially)- while failing miserably on both counts at other times. Worthwhile stories each...
Cheers, Stan!
Watched the Polaroid documentary last night. The more things change the more they stay the same. Land appeared to be progressive but his involvement in South African apartheid truly showed what obsession can do to a person’s brain regardless of the century.
Thanks for bringing attention to the film about Michael Jang and his work. Michael and I were classmates at CalArts in the’70s. I saw the beginnings of the Jang Family series his paparazzi series. Some of my photographs are in the beginning of the film, 50cent photo sale (crit) and portrait of Michael of his back. It’s great seeing how Michael’s work has evolved in recent years. He is a brilliant artist and photographer.
That's great! I love these connections — the world keeps getting smaller. Thanks for the note, Steve, and for reading!
Thank you Andy for highlighting these movies! I like E. Land’s comment about great inventions happening when the world is not ready for it. AI comes to mind today, as well as its cousins, like autonomous human-like robots and photo and other art-making software.
Jesus Christ these idiots are everywhere, I'd thought at least I could get a respite from their conspiracy BS in the Flakphoto comments, but alas, no.
Good luck with the Instax! 🤩
Yes thank you! I watched the first one about Michael Jang and loved it so much and the other is in my watch list already and can't wait to see!
Are you familiar with Howard Greenberg Gallery?
If by "public media" you are writing about NPR and PBS you may want to reconsider your position. These "public media" told you repeated lies during the Covid era. They lied about how dangerous Covid was. They lied that lockdowns would be for two weeks. They lied that there were no alternative treatments. They lied about the need for a vaccine. They lied saying the vaccine was safe and effective.
I could recount all the non-Covid lies but it would get boring.