The Polaroid Book: Selections from the Polaroid Collections of Photography (Taschen's 25th Anniversary Special Editions)
by Barbara Hitchcock
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Book Summary Information
Author: Barbara HitchcockEditor: Steve Crist
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: French (Unknown); French (Original Language); German (Original Language); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-01
ISBN: 3836501899
Number of pages: 351
Publisher: Taschen
Book Reviews of The Polaroid Book: Selections from the Polaroid Collections of Photography (Taschen's 25th Anniversary Special Editions)
Book Review: The Polaroid Book - A Must-Have Ode to a Fine Artistic Medium
Summary: 5 Stars
On my desk at the moment is a cherished copy of "The Polaroid Book: Selections from the Polaroid Collections of Photography", published by Taschen. This book is a delightful ode to a fantastic art medium that is, unfortunately, fading out.
The immediacy and intimacy of Polaroid photography simply cannot be replicated by digital photography. Sure, you can pick up a digital camera and point and shoot all you like, but you won't have a completed, printed image sliding gracefully out of the camera and developing before your eyes. You will also not get the opportunity to dismember the image during its development and experiment with such delights as transfer printing.
Don't get me wrong, digital photography definitely has its merits and its vast possibilities - I'm a fanatic and practitioner myself. However, there is no other photographic medium that can possibly compare with the inimitable Polaroid - and it is sad to see it slowly diminish and disappear from the shelves.
The Polaroid Book is, in my opinion, a most fitting tribute to the Polaroid technology. Edited by Steve Crist, and with an introductory essay by Barbara Hitchcock (Director of The Polaroid Collections and written in September 2004), the book includes 254 images and a brief overview of some of the more significant cameras sold by the company.
One of the downsides of this book, like all great photographic books, is that you are left feeling somewhat let down by the fact that it is not the original works that you are looking at. The temptation to pick the image up off the page, feel it and hold it is, in my case, quite overwhelming. It is difficult not to have your browsing completely arrested by images like Joyce Tennyson's "Suzanne in Chair", Danilo Sartoni's "Landscape", Rien Bazen's almost Rothko-esque "(Blue Chair)", Bill Burke's "Family, Kermit, W. Va." - in fact there are too many to list here, but you get the point.
The book also contains images by Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, Ansel Adams, Harry Callahan, Paul Caponigro,David Hockney and Helmut Newton, to name but a few. Of particular interest to the book's Australian audience is "Sisters 1" by Mark Power, an image made in 1970. Is it because that photo was not taken by Bill Henson that the book has not attracted the ire of that country's wowser's?
All in all, a great reason to turn off the TV, get comfortable, and immerse yourself in the pleasures of a disappearing art medium. Maybe, hopefully, books like The Polaroid Book will trigger our collective consciences into doing what needs to be done to make this medium the giant it once was. After all, compared to the opportunities available to digital photographers, the Polaroid is quite limiting. However, isn't it limitation that is the mother of creativity? This book argues a convincing "YES". Thankfully, it has been reprinted by Taschen and is currently available at a very reasonable price. Do yourself a favour and add it to your collection today.
More The Polaroid Book: Selections from the Polaroid Collections of Photography (Taschen's 25th Anniversary Special Editions) reviews:
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Summary of The Polaroid Book: Selections from the Polaroid Collections of Photography (Taschen's 25th Anniversary Special Editions)
This survey features more than 400 works from the Polaroid Collection along with essays by Hitchcock, who illuminates the beginnings and history of the Polaroid Corporation.
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