The use of Polaroid Instant Film in Ryan McGinley’s Contemporary Practice
A photograph is defined not only by its content, but also something tangible that exists in it’s own right. Whether this be a physical print, or a a trace of the image on a screen, made up by pixels and code, the materiality of the photograph has just as much affect on the viewer as the subject matter. Geoffrey Batchen (2004) highlights the ‘need to develop a way of talking about the photograph that can attend to its various physical attributes, to its materiality as a medium of representation’. This notes not only the objective features of the photograph that make it identifiable as what it is, but also the artists’ choice of medium, and how they have adapted it to its’ most realised potential. It is the physical attributes of the photograph that allow for more channels of communication between the artist and the viewer. Choices in materiality and physicality add context and meaning to why the artist has chosen to produce and present their work through a specific medium.
We can analyse the materiality by identifying two key aspects of the photograph; the plasticity of the image itself, the chemistry, the paper it is printed on, the toning, the resulting surface variations’ and ‘presentational forms, such as cartes de visite, cabinet cards, albums, mounts and frames’ (Edwards and Hart, 2004). In short, we look at the materiality of production and the materiality of the outcome. Instant photography is a medium that has undergone lots of various, material aesthetic changes in history, due to the developmental technology used when producing prints. Using Polaroid as a reference, we can see the changes in technology that have enabled cultural shifts and how we interact with the medium.
Polaroid have seen insignificant development since it’s release in 1947 is what Edwin H. Land dubbed ‘one-step’ instant film. His release was intended to cut the process of printing images down to simply ‘one step’ of taking the photograph, and letting the camera’s built in technology do the rest. Land’s first take on instant photography, saw the responsibility still sit with the photographer to remove the film from the camera and peel away the negative sheet. However 25 years later, with his release of the SX-70, this process was truly cut down to ‘one step’ with the automation technology relying on the new, integral film.
Polaroid enabled a shift in the relationship between the photographer and their equipment, by embedding the print technology into the camera itself (Hand, 2012). The development of ‘one step’ printing turned the process of making a photograph into a less skilled action, due to the lack of dark room printing processes a photographer had to do. Now lacking the human tactility when producing the prints, the new technology was widely rejected by amateur photographers (Buse, 2008), where there became a stigma that the medium was unskilled and didn’t show talent as a photographer. The release of the SX-70 discarded the physical negative, keeping it hidden inside the integral frame, making the new process even more dissimilar to analogue, dark room printing.
But how has a brand that had so much cultural backlash when released, become a household name, and a medium that is still highly prevalent in contemporary artists work? One photographer that is at the forefront of the medium is Ryan McGinley, an American artist working in New York. ‘The Kids Are Alright’ was exhibited in 2000 at a small gallery in West Broadway, New York. Sylvia Wolf, after receiving a copy of the photobook accompanying the exhibition, helped McGinley to upscale the exhibition for a show at the Whitney Museum of American Art, where he broke the record as the youngest ever solo exhibitor. His exhibition and supporting photobook showcased hundreds of Polaroids, taken from the over 10,000 shot between the years of 1998-2003. The exhibition was revived in 2017 by curator Nora Burnett Abrams, putting the Polaroids on display in Denver alongside a collection of prints of his close friends and inner circle. Director and Chief Animator of the MCA, Adam Lerner, talks on the artists’ subject matter when explaining that ‘naked bodies abound in McGinley’s photographs’ (2017). But this isn’t a new feature in galleries and museums. Nudes have been recurrent in photography since the mediums’ invention in the 19th Century, but they have been constantly criticised for representing the real with a true likeness. McGinley pushes this further however, photographing his close friends in very personal circumstances. Lerner further explains ‘A woman is seen shovelling coke up her nose […] a guy is holding up his dick […] cum is dripping down his face’. This intimate subject matter shown by McGinley, taken on a medium that is personal and a symbol of shared experience between a photographer and a sitter, on the walls of a gallery is an insight into, put simply, his life. Thus, the intimacy of the photographs mirrors the cultural fact of Polaroid, both being this tangible, cherished exchange.
McGinley gained a name for himself as a photographer for embracing the use of Polaroid, but in an interview with Miss Rosen for Dazed (2017) he explained that the medium ‘opened up (him) to being able to photograph the person for the rest of the day or night’. After carefully shooting the first frame of the sitter, McGinley would shoot dozens of rolls of film of whatever he wanted to shoot. In the same interview, he explains the ritualistic nature of the shoots ‘The person who is being photographed is being celebrated because I would take the Polaroid and then we’d look at it. I’d write their name, the time it was shot, and the date on the back and then I’d stick it on my wall’ (McGinley, 2017).
Analogue processes, especially the use of Polaroid, enabled McGinley to create an identity as a photographer. It was the work that landed him his first large scale exhibition, which we associate with his body of work, even in contemporary practice. Although, McGinley has progressed into the use of digital for some projects, his prevalence and coverage in the media is almost solely based around his use of analogue processes. Although McGinley has progressed into digital photography for some work, he chooses an appropriate medium for each project, with no bias towards either analogue or digital. For example, for his 2018 project ‘Mirror Mirror’ McGinley instructed people to shoot 5 rolls of colour negative film following various instructions based around mirrors and reflections. McGinley provided all of his subjects with the camera, mirrors and instructions, however he wasn’t present in any of the images. He directed all of his models taking the self portraits through a series of detailed instructions. In the first set of instructions, McGinley explained ‘the photographs are shot on film so the subject cannot see the results they are shooting’ (McGinley, 2018). The choice to produce this work on film was key to the intentions and outcome of the project, as if the images were shot digitally then McGinley’s subjects would be shooting the images in a completely different way. Not being able to see the images as they are being shot, allows for a lot more experimentation and playfulness in the images, as there is a lack of judgement between frames.
‘New Originals’ was a project in collaboration with Polaroid Originals that took place in New York, 2017. McGinley was chosen by the brand to select 5 emerging photographers that shoot on Polaroid film to showcase their work in an exhibition celebrating the young creatives using the medium in their work. This idea was intended to be a commercial recreation of how McGinley was selected for his first solo exhibition by Sylvia Wolf in 2003, whilst also being good coverage for Polaroid Originals as a brand. In material terms, this collaboration was purely reliant on analogue processes and disregarding of technological advances, but social media had a large influence on McGinley’s choice of exhibitors. In an interview with Anna Zanes for Office Magazine he explains that ‘I wouldn’t say it’s all through Instagram, but I mean, isn’t that how everybody gets visual information these days?’ (McGinley, 2017). This shift in culture is a commentary on technology and it’s influence over how we see and interact with art and photography. In contemporary practice, almost all photographers have an online social presence, in one form or another. Whether it is used to post your actual work, interact with people that enjoy your work or just as a contact tool. McGinley is no exception here, running an account that showcases his professional work and occasionally shows an insight into his processes and personal life.
Another case study is when Ryan McGinley released 15 never-before-published film images in collaboration with We Transfer, a digital online platform for users to transfer and share files. The project showcased McGinley’s analogue prints alongside an interview between himself and Kathy Ryan, renowned director of photography for the New York Times. The accompanying interview gave insight to his work process, as Kathy Ryan curated images that are inspired by his family life, his obsession with nudity and the constant theme of rebellion in his work. So even though this work was produced on film, taken on various road trips around America, when published there is still the influence of digital technology that makes the exhibition accessible to viewers. When shooting, McGinley wasn’t aware that the images would be shown online in a collaborative exhibition, however it was the influence of curator Kathy Ryan and what she did with the images that brought the analogue images into a digital context.
It is this point that makes us wonder whether in a contemporary setting work can solely be produced and shown using analogue techniques. In an essay for The Anxiety of Photography, Matthew Thompson explains ‘Photography is thoroughly and visibly connected to technological apparatus and […] technology is constantly changing’ (Thompson, 2011). This argues that the potential for creating a contemporary project without use of digital processes is less likely to occur when the technology that enables and accompanies photography has progressed so much. An exhibition such as McGinley’s ‘New Originals’, a project consisting of analogue prints mainly on Polaroid instant film, is now a project that wasn’t solely produced via analogue processes. The smallest involvement of digital process such as online curation or online coverage can alter the contextual factors affecting the work. For example, the material processes and techniques to produce work for ‘New Originals’ is undeniably analogue. The work was shot on Polaroid instant film, using Polaroid cameras, and the prints were created in camera using Instant integral film. As a viewer of this exhibition, it could be argued that seeing the work in person, without prior knowledge of how the artists were chosen is seeing the work of analogue processes. As soon as the work is posted online, or you learn of the online curation via social media, there is an added depth to the work which takes it out of an analogue context.
A similar point can be made for the online exhibition in collaboration with We Transfer, whereby the production of the work was solely analogue, however Kathy Ryan decided to take the images and make them available online. This online publishing of the article and supporting images enabled McGinley’s images to be taken into a digital context, making them more accessible to wider audiences worldwide.
This development of technology into a digital era for photography is a similar occurrence to what we saw with the progression of Polaroid Technology in the mid 1900s. As mentioned, the instant camera started off with more physical processes required to produce a print, namely removing the film from the camera and peeling off the negative slide from the print. However with technological advancements, we saw the process of shooting Polaroid become a completely different thing, with the camera developing the print itself automatically and leaving the only physical task for the photographer to do is remove the print from the camera. The development of technology allowed for the process of image printing to become easier and more accessible to those who didn’t have access to dark rooms or other analogue printing technologies. Similarly we have seen the development of digital technologies, and their large influence on the way we interact with photography, whether it is shot analogue or digital. In contemporary practice, it is so much easier to scan and post images you have made online making them more accessible to larger audiences than if they are only shown in exhibitions. But because of this ease now to put your work on social media, it has become more important to keep up with technology to an extent, in order to not fall behind.
To an extent, a photographer should create an identity for themselves producing work in whatever style they desire, whether this is using solely analogue processes, the newest digital technologies and techniques or a combination of the both. Staying true to themselves is what helps to create consistency in a body of work, which is what Ryan McGinley has done throughout his career. After launching to fame with his project shot on Polaroid, he has continued to use the medium in his more contemporary work. What McGinley has also done, however is adapt to the advancing technologies that have become available to him. When contemporary processes are applicable or necessary to use for a project, he won’t disregard them. Whether the technology is a large influence like the method of shooting the project or a small influence of online curation for an exhibition, it is difficult for contemporary artists to work solely using analogue processes in a given context.
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