The Polaroid Book

I'm involve in this project to create a Polaroid book. This is my end of the notes:

It starts off as a site.

I have a feeling no one reads this stuff but here goes. The big P is dying. We need to do something and no I don't mean save the company but something like a show, a thank you to Edwin Land and to Polaroid. We need to step up.

We solicited polaroids from every photo site on the web, the good the bad and the ugly, anything anyone can think of, dogs and parties, cars and car key in the fish bowl parties, everything, fine art and low brow crap, and we set it up in a slide show and maybe call it Integral America.

It becomes a book instead.

I think we can keep this to 200 pages. I admit I haven't dug into the publishing material but what I imagine it is a sort of gift to Polaroid. I think there's a lot we can do on the grassroots level to promote the book

I don't know if marketing is where we need to start. I think we should start by deciding on who and how much, not so much in hard limits but well try this on for size:

We create a sort of extended thank you card, each artist has one page to express their gratitude to Edwin Land.

? Even if my idea isn't it, I just don't think we should get ahead of ourselves because I feel like we could get shut down just on that.

We need to set up a clear and easy submission policy and I think a board is a great idea. I think the emphasize should be how the picture succeeds based on the artist’s "project" and that will keep us away from what you or I or Alan "fancy". I think if we're honest with ourselves we'll be fine.

I'll tell you why I said two pages, some artists are better than others and this way we get one set amount of space and can be dead certain that it's super powerful stuff and we can fit a lot of people in the book.

My goal was to thank Edwin but I think people need to understand how many artists work in this medium. I tell people I use Polaroid and their like, "Perv." I have to show them what I can do with it. I think the book should do that. Like you said so many people fancy so many different things, the broader the spectrum the more likely they'll get it.

Now I need some coffee and a self importance enema.

This question is at the heart of this book... "Is this a book to show how far the basic user can push the Polaroid Integral envelope or just to show what a diverse crowd uses Polaroids for?” I mean it's both things. No one's work fits. It's what drives people to Polaroid.

As to how we choose, let the artist chose and if by some weird fluke it's their worst stuff, we asked them.

That leads to this, if we all have two pages, we should ask as many people as possible: we should hit up our site mates, Polarama but that still leaves us short 60 pages so we should reach out. The two page limit makes it easy to get lots of people. Let's bring them in.

Also what about found shots? I just saw some found shots in an Anny (a Diana clone) and they were f'ing brilliant. I know there so some great Polaroid out there. Just an idea.

I did write about a self importance enema earlier.

It was such a great thing to see, such a beautiful way to approach this project, art not as self promotion and cash but for the love of it and education. It made me sigh.

We need to work out a basic structure and start soliciting art. Also graphic design is not my thing. Someone needs to start thinking layout and we need someone to start the cover idea or even better solicited for that. I mean, we should have the best idea on the cover.

The Book becomes a puzzle.

Try this on, what if the book were like a puzzle and the found art was mixed with the "real" art. There would be a way to know that is "real" and who did it but for the basic experience of the book, you would have to find that information, sort out what art is to you the reader. Think about this. This could be great.

I like the cover idea. Have you given any thought to the puzzle concept? I know it sounds strange but the idea of putting the viewer in the position of deciding what's art and what isn't lends itself to the publishing idea and to Polaroid which really so much about crossing those boundaries. Artists would still get recognition. I want to be real clear about that.

I just got the Walker Evans book, Polaroid. It struck me odd, so much of what we do, and by we I mean the Pola community in general, is about color and oddness like artifacts from a Wim Wender movie and his, Evans' stuff, is dark or darker and simple but without the artifice of simplicity like when writers talk about the "stink of poetry" in a bad poem.

Why are we doing this again?

I think the puzzle idea isn't clear because it isn't finished. I know this: We should find a way to mix found Polaroids and "art".

I think the idea that Polaroid is instant and art isn't but sometimes instant can be art is interesting. It's like the teeth shots on the site Alan posted for us, some kind of dental shots maybe put between two artists it becomes a choice the reader makes about the value of images, the arbitrary nature of what most people call art.

Maybe each artist work is titled, maybe not. It avoids the whole self promotion thing, it dismantles it, defuses it because to know the artist you have to look for the information that denotes who the artist is. Like the woman in the museum who decides if she likes a work after she reads the card next to the picture, these readers will not be sure which is art and which isn't so maybe they like it and maybe not but because the name is missing what's art becomes their decision. They have to consider why they like it.

I want to do something more than just sell my work, your work, Alan's work. There's enough of that on the internet already, better venues. Let's make something bigger than book.

Two thoughts: Walker Evans has himself as an old man in a Polaroid frame. I don't remember if it was a Pola he took or even a Pola but it's in the white frame. The book was composed after he died. It's like Zen it's quite. My apologies to Buddhists.

Second thought: I think we should make the kind of book that is itself a thing of art like the toy camera book so that the people who own it will own an artifact so that the Mylar cover, the Pola cover Alan had was genius abet I imagine influenced by the new BIG Taschen book. I think its genius.

That's what I had in mind, sort of hide the details. And I feel like I need to be clear about the other thing. I think your idea is brilliant and I hope I didn't imply it taken from the Taschen book. The taschen book is clever just like "Creme" and "Cock" were clever but your idea is inspired.

Gomek admits other people are working on this also.

Alan I'm torn between two really great ideas. On one hand the emptiness of the frame idea is pretty slick. But I like the idea of putting something actually on the cover also, I think someone mentioned an original print. That sounds pretty good too.

I was, going back to the puzzle idea, imagining the artist info like this (and we will have large involvement) instead of a table of contents something like a page of numbered photos and in the back, a printed index listing name, film type etc. Artist bios should be limited contact info or else be really funny as in found art/made up stories.

I think only instant film should be included.

Maybe I'll add to this, probably I'll just delete it.