“Instant Revolution”

2012

Details

When & Where

Polaroid and Impossible announce the opening of INSTANT REVOLUTION, the first in an upcoming series of artistic collaborations throughout 2012 celebrating the launch of the Polaroid Classic line.

Featuring photos captured with the last original Polaroid Spectra film production run from 2008, one of the first products introduced as part of the Polaroid Classic line, five of the world’s most dynamic and contemporary artists contributed to INSTANT REVOLUTION: Gary Baseman, James Franco, Maripol, Mary Ellen Mark and Jennifer Juniper Stratford.

For more than 60 years, the instant image has been a revolutionary aspect of how artists create, consider and define analog photography. The five artists featured in INSTANT REVOLUTION all take different approaches to illustrating their relationship with analog photography:

Gary Baseman
“I wanted to use the camera the way I originally used such a device in the 1970s and 80s…to capture an immediate memory. My art is about discovering one's "True Self," and Polaroid cameras have been an important tool in assisting in this truth-finding and free expression.”

James Franco
“Polaroid images are true singular moments captured in time, they are so dependent on the conditions of the moment…and the look is unbeatable.”

Maripol “When I got my Polaroid camera years ago, my curiosity turned into voyeurism, self-exhibitionism. Behind the camera box, hearing the click, seizing the moment, I got hooked on it.”

Mary Ellen Mark
“I really enjoyed going out on the street again. Everyone seemed to love being photographed with this strange object that spat out a print right away and didn’t have a digital image on the back.”

Jennifer Juniper Stratford
“I photographed the Hollywood that matters to me. From casting to continuity, everyone had a bit of a giggle and love for Polaroid photography, which made this project so significant to the history of Hollywood and its relationship with Polaroid.”

The

Photographers

About James Franco
James Franco is an award-winning American actor, artist, and filmmaker. He has done both dramatic and comedic work in a wide range of artistic and commercial projects and has appeared in an eclectic range of films since the 2000s, ranging from period to contemporary pieces and major Hollywood productions to less publicized indie films, fantasy films, biopics and soap operas.

About Maripol
Maripol is an artist, film producer, fashion designer and stylist who has influenced the looks of many influential artists including Grace Jones, Deborah Harry, and Madonna. Her Polaroids belong to the permanent collections of contemporary museums and have been exhibited in art galleries worldwide.

About Mary Ellen Mark
Mary Ellen Mark has achieved worldwide visibility through her numerous books, exhibitions and editorial magazine work. For over four decades, she has traveled extensively to make pictures that reflect a high degree of humanism. Today, she is recognized as one of our most respected and influential photographers.

About Gary Baseman
Gary Baseman crosses many lines of art as a painter, illustrator, video and performance artist, an Emmy award-winning animator, TV/movie producer, curator and toy designer. His work has been published in The New Yorker, TIME and Rolling Stone, combining an aesthetic of iconic pop art images, pre- and post-war vintage motifs, cross-cultural mythology and literary and psychological archetypes.

About Jennifer Juniper Stratford
Jennifer Juniper Stratford is a photographer and video artist struggling daily in her love/hate relationship with the movie making industry that is explored through photographic series and the production of cult movies. Rather than rely on the latest technological advancements, she bends technology in service of art by using a mixture of current, analog and practical photography to transport viewers to alternate realms.