Hello blog readers! Sorry for the lack of posts of late, but I was away. Now I’m not away. Away/not away, there/here. Yes, I know these distinctions are complicated in a time when one can blog from anywhere, but there you have it. I’ll give you a couple elipses so you can consider this.
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Okay now?
Thought I’d kick off my First Day Back with this sad (and sort of silly and sappy) ode to the Polaroid 600. Enjoy!
You know how Andre 3000 demands that you “Shake it like a Polaroid picture” in the song Hey Ya? This guy did just that, 207 times. You see boys and girls, you used to have to shake Polaroids in order to get the chemicals to even out and the film to dry. Frankly, I think it didn’t help. But it was fun to do. According to the Universal Record Database, Matt Stangler set the record for most Polaroid shakes, and the feat was documented in this video. This is the kind of thing people do in Williamsburg.
I spotted these photo albums at the Lomography store on Eighth Street. It’s an old idea—photos on a wheel like that. I have an album of my grandma’s that looks a little like this. I particularly was interested in the very Rolodex-y nature of this effort. Looks like a fun way to organize photo prints: get a Rolodex card punch (you mean you don’t already have one?!), a couple of cool vintage Rolodexes, maybe some tabs so you can organize it by date or event, and voila. I may try making one on my own. I’ll report back.
Beautiful photo by Lee Friedlander. Funny how, through the years, both television screens and Hollywood leading ladies have gotten more flat and angular. Bye-bye, rounded curves.
- Me: What are these things in the picture?
- Dandara: It's tape. Like from a tape recorder.
- Me: Yeah? Tell me more.
- Dandara: It's coming out. It's like when you take pictures there used to be tape. Or something.
- Me: You sure that's what it is?
- Dandara: Well, I don't know. Maybe it's a battery.
Between 1979 and 1997, photographer Jamie Livingston took a Polaroid every day. These pictures captured important moments (his battle with cancer, his wedding…) but they also documented all the in between moments that give out lives texture. This image is from the day I was born. I’m a narcissist like that.
It’d be hard to do a project like this today, if only because Polaroid film is no longer manufactured. Digital photography has many advantages, but it’s awfully easy to take 50 photos and then to erase 49. The one left over is the ideal, not the reality. With his Polaroid, Livingston only had one shot a day. No re-dos. Kind of like real life.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Anna Grossman is writing this bio in the third person. She is a New York-based freelance writer specializing in lifestyle and entertainment features. She is 5'7" and has been described as "nice." Su esposo, Jesus, enseñandola Espanol. Email her if you feel like it: GrossmanAJ@Gmail.com
MEET THE ILLUSTRATOR
James Gulliver Hancock is an internationally acclaimed artist who crosses as many mediums as he does borders. James is constantly on the move, having been involved in artist projects and residencies in Indonesia, Austria, France, the U.K. and America. He is currently located in Los Angeles and works on projects in Europe, America and Australia. His work is as varied as his travels, encompassing editorial illustration for magazines, commissions for music group artwork and animations, work with disabled children on logo designs, creating gigantic set illustrations for performances and TV.
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