All images untitled Polaroids by Mike Slack.
In this special guest post for Polaroid Week, our friend Michael David Murphy—his aka is whileseated, and he blogs, brilliantly, at 2point8—chats with his friend, Mike Slack (great site!). A 36-year-old photographer based in LA, Mike has made a name for himself with his gorgeously seen Polaroids, which have been collected into three books, the most well-known of which was his debut, “OK OK OK” (originally published by J&L Books; now available in a second edition from The Ice Plant. We’ll have more on “OK OK OK” in our Polaroid Book Round-up, later in the week.) Thanks to both Mikes for being a part of The Daily F’log’s Polaroid fest! —along
Michael David Murphy: Polaroids are authentic, in that they’re completely analog and physical. You click the shutter and boom, you have something in your hand. When you take Polaroids, do you feel like you’re “making” art in a way that you might not feel with another camera?
Mike Slack: Making Polaroids is physical and immediate but it’s like using crayons—you’re working with a narrow range of aesthetic options. The 680 camera makes it feel more like investigative work, some kind of unspecified research or experiment, gathering data. I get into a “detective” frame of mind and try to keep a low profile, which can be tricky in public places. Security guards routinely regard me with suspicion and I’ve yet to explain my behavior in a way that doesn’t make me look even more suspicious—I’m rarely mistaken for an artist (or even a tourist). The feeling of “making art” comes more into play afterward as I’m editing things & studying the results in the privacy of my own home.
MDM: Polaroids are instant, but you still have to wait a bit (shake it!) for the image to come through. What’s that time like for you? When you’re holding a picture you’ve just taken, do you feel enthralled watching the image slowly take form, or is that old hat?
MS: I generally just shoot and run, though it’s hard to not be mystified by that self-developing process, even if you understand how the chemicals and emulsion work. It’s one of the best inventions of the 20th century. The thing I don’t understand is why people think they need to “shake” the Polaroid while it’s developing. The original peel-off Polaroid film may have benefited from some blowing or waving to dry the surface of the picture, but with SX-70 and 600 formats everything is sealed in plastic and the magic happens at its own pace. Flapping the picture around will only increase the chances of messing up the print you’ve just made. Best to just set the Polaroid aside and let the chemicals do their thing.
MDM: When you take a Polaroid, do you capture something, do you describe it, reproduce it, or do something else entirely?
MS: All of my immediate answers to that question sound like Garry Winogrand quotes—shooting to “see what the world looks like photographed”; the photograph as “the illusion of a literal description” of something… When the camera is close at hand, I consciously look out for things that will emphasize the Polaroid’s aesthetic qualities, or that will turn the Polaroid print into an interesting physical object in itself. In the process of doing this over time, I end up describing the world in ways that I’m not always conscious of at the moment the button is pushed. That unconscious part of it is far more interesting to me than the technical side of making the pictures, and it’s what I spend most of my time thinking about when it comes to editing and presenting pictures to an audience. The cumulative effect is that the Polaroids can be read as both photographic descriptions of factual subject matter and pictorial descriptions of a thought process stimulated by that subject matter.
MDM: Is the Polaroid community like a party on the Titanic? Do you have a freezer-full of film on which you could coast for a few months if Polaroid stops producing consumer film?
MS: I’ve only got a small stash of 600 or 779 film in the fridge at any given time—maybe enough for a week or two. When the lifeline really does get cut at some point, I may regret not stockpiling more of it, and those last few packs will take on a special significance. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened already.
MDM: Do you want to mention your new work?
MS: My new work would be hard to characterize. There’s an ongoing series of close-up portraits I’ve been making off a video monitor; a series of dreamy, nondescript landscapes; a feeling of being lost in outer space; various collections of architectural details. On February 5, I shot 100 pictures of the sky over my house for a small show in New York up right now. I’ve also been using a medium-format camera, shooting negatives, but it will be a while before I do anything with those pictures.
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18 Responses to “No Slacker Here”
lore @ 2007-03-13 08:35:47 PM says:
oopootye45 ablo hapones agregeme doy clases de ingles gratis
tōei @ 2007-03-14 01:36:13 AM says:
simple images but beautiful also. i love the blur of the aircraft~
Rodo @ 2007-03-14 09:37:10 AM says:
I looved
Patty @ 2007-03-14 10:39:39 AM says:
love polaroids!
So great!
Sthefane Cordini @ 2007-03-14 11:43:32 AM says:
Gostaria de saber porque não consigo mais alterar a fonte do meu fotolog, para maior ou menor! Ela estava na mínima e agora está maior, repentinamente!
ale @ 2007-03-14 04:10:50 PM says:
hola
pitufina @ 2007-03-14 04:30:48 PM says:
saludos y besos ricos
solo para ti t3
nos vemos
saludines para todos
cuidense que esten muy
bien
haray @ 2007-03-14 05:12:40 PM says:
este va dirigido para una persona especial.
Qu tengas exito y suerte te lo deseo de todo corazon bey…
nikotina @ 2007-03-14 05:44:53 PM says:
solo contarles q la extraño…
si la ve saludenle…y q aqui la espero…
jesuina…te extraño-.-.-.-.-.
—-migo…..(x_x)
.:.lokay.:. @ 2007-03-14 05:54:34 PM says:
holaaaaaaaaa nada k desir eaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaea gibran y paulina eaeaeaeaeaeaeaea mis hijos te ban adesir tio
carlos @ 2007-03-14 06:42:01 PM says:
a mi hemano le pareses linda
Lisa @ 2007-03-14 09:11:59 PM says:
i think i may actually need to try shaking it…
feche @ 2007-03-15 11:39:43 AM says:
hola como stas tns la re onda
vaneee @ 2007-03-15 01:45:00 PM says:
Alguien me dice q es esto ?
y bueno nada era para figurar =)
Pasen
ahh y pasen flogs de dibujos raros
si hai :P
noely calderon @ 2007-03-15 02:49:42 PM says:
no entiiendo estoo ! pero no iimporta
un beso a todos los que me conocen , y espero que me pasen el mensajiito .
un besiito a todo el normal uno de la plata , aregentinaa !
aguante noveno a ! año 2007
rohan @ 2007-03-15 08:15:25 PM says:
que mongol O.o
angel @ 2007-03-15 08:47:29 PM says:
k onda con eso loco???
esta todo raro no entiendo nada………….
pero coooool!!!!!
The Daily F’log » Blog Archive » Polaroids on the Page @ 2007-03-17 11:05:11 PM says:
[…] OK OK OK (The Ice Plant)—Michael David Murphy, whose interview with Mike Slack appeared on the F’log earlier this week, has since noticed another recent article in which Mike identifies things he tries to avoid taking pictures of: “funny-looking bushes; chain link fences; street signs; arrows of any kind; empty parking lots; painted brick walls; weeds; stairs; shadows; doors; rain gutters; tools; words; hats; the backs of people’s heads; trash; trash cans; empty roads; plush toys; food; loading docks; telephones; cracked sidewalks; shopping carts; manhole covers; water towers; inanimate objects that resemble sex organs; airplanes; shoes; telephone wires; water puddles; clouds; stray dogs; ugly office buildings; brightly colored flowers; the ocean; empty hotel rooms; long hotel corridors; birds; air conditioners; fire hydrants; curtains; framed paintings; crashed cars; cell phone transmitters; and sofa cushions.” […]
