Photography Quarterly #81 by The Center for Photography at Woodstock

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STAFF

Executive Director, Colleen Kenyon

Associate Director, Kathleen Kenyon

Assistant Director, Lawrence P. Lewis

ProgramDirector, Kate Menconeri

Associate ProgramDirector, Ariel Shanberg Education Coordinator,Judi Esmond

On-Site WPW Manager, Fawn Potash

BOARDOF DIRECTORS

Marianne Courville, Frederick J. Edwards, Edward Garbarino, Frances Gray, David Karp, Arie Kopelman, Ellen K.Levy, David Maloney, Kitty McCullough, Frank Mercado-Valdes, Sarah Morthland, Dion Ogust, Kathleen Ruiz, Alan Siegel, Bob Wagner

ADVISORYBOARD

Ellen Carey, Philip Cavanaugh, Susan Ferris, Sheva Fruitman, Julie Galant, Howard Greenberg-Founder, Sue Hart• shorn, W.M. Hunt, Greg Kandel, Peter Kenner, Laurie Kratochvil, Marcia Lippman, Peter MacGill, Marcia Reid Marsted, Elliott Meisel, Jeffrey Milstein, Ann Morse, Gloria Nimetz, Sandra Phillips, Jose Picayo, Lilo Raymond, Ernestine Ruben, Charles Stainback, Neil Trager

WORKSHOPINTERNS2001

Karly Anne Cammerer, Meghan Keegan, Brendan Murtaugh, Megan Sauers

PHOTOGRAPHYQuarterly#81,Vol. 20 No. 2, ISSN 0890 4639. Copyright© 2001 Center for Photography at Woodstock, 59 Tmker Street, Woodstock, New York 12498. Catalog essays© 2001 Yancey Richardson, Sally M. Faulkner, Phyllils Laurenza Linnehan. All photographs and texts reproduced in this Quarterly are copyrighted by the artists. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the Center for Photography at Woodstock. The opinions and ideas expressed in this publication do not represent official positions of the Center. Printing by Kenner Printing LLC, NYC. Editor, Kathleen Kenyon; Assistant Editor, Kate Menconeri. Composition by Digital Design Studio, Kingston, NY. The PHOTOGRAPHY Quarterly is distributed by Ubiquity Distributors, Brooklyn, NY 11217, and Bernhard DeBoer, Inc., Nutley, NJ 07110.

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Pq/2 #81makebelieve page 3 kathleenkenyon 4 yanceyrichardson 12 sallym. faulkner 18 phyllislaurenzalinnehan 25 birgittalund

Introduction

Wonderland

DialoguewithVickiRagan

TheArtistryof20x24Photography

In Light

Introduction

The Magic of the Medium

When we use photography in our everyday lives we want a real picture of our friends at the party, our children on the playground, andAunt Sarah to look just as we will always want to remember her.

Creative photographers also use images to tell a story as if we are looking out a window. They use the inherent illusion of the medium to say here is the riot or the romance and we fall right into the picture.

Other creative image-makers employ photography-as those in this issue doto make us believe the usual is unusualthe fantasy is fact.

Once upon a time down a rabbit hole through a looking glass ...

Can you picture imagined worlds where fact and fiction real and make believe truth and fantasy collide?

-Kathleen Kenyon, editor

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WONDERLAND

pictureselectionsbyYanceyRichardson oftheYanceyRichardsonGallery,NYC

It has been some time now since the world acknowledged photography's ability to not only report the truth but also to distort or recreate reality. As a result there has been an increasing trend toward studiofabricated photographs such as those by James Casebere or Oliver Boberg who use architectural models to construct spaces or the directed narrative work of Gregory Crewdson or the digitally altered work of Andreas Gursky.

In addition to constructing reality, photography often captures those interstitial moments of reverie between periods of cognizance. Due to its inherent grounding in the real world, photography has an enhanced ability to draw the viewer into this parallel dream world, simulating that childlike state of mind when the wall between the imagination and reality is very thin indeed.

The selection of pictures chosen for Wonderland is composed of images that transport the viewer beyond the immediate where, as in our dreams, we find both nightmare and delight.

Richardson ADRIENNE ABSECK

LAUREN GRABELLE KIMBERLY GREMILLION PAMELA ELLIS HAWKES SCOIT IRVINE

LANG ©

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-2001,Yancey

ALICEATTIE

MARY

1998, Scott Irvine, Untitled, (Under the Tent), toned gelatin silver, l 5xl 5"

ADRIENNE ABSECK

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ALICE ATTIE

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LAURENGRABELLE

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KIMBERLY GREMILLION

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PAMELA ELLIS HAWKES

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SCOTT IRVINE

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MARY LANG

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DialoguewithVickiRagan

SallyM.Faulkner

In photographer Vicki Ragan's creative process, the objects are primary:/ collect things. I find compositions with the items that I have, and then start working within those given parameters. After touring her Atlanta studio with its piles of paraphernalia -all categorized by type, size, or shape -her simple statement becomes clearer.Through the years, Ragan has amassed collections of shells, parts of clothing (buttons, gloves, lace collars), animal heads, dolls, damaged prints from antique markets, old books, wrapping paper, fabric, and vintage photographs, to name just a few./ think that part of my job is to look for materials. I accumulate items even before I know why or how I want to use them.

These objects appear and reappear in her assemblage-like photographs, creating the artist's personal iconography. Their meaning, however, may differ from one piece to the next as each element carries several interpretations. Ragan explains: For example, snakes to me can symbolize multiple ideas such as wisdom,fear, or sex.Airplanes mean freedom, from your physical self as well as from your surroundings.Masks also demonstrate a freedom, mostly from societal restrictions on behavior. Other recurring items include mythological figures, maps and navigational charts, women's clothing, and old family photographs.

Apart from Ragan's assigned association, the viewer's own identity with the imagery conveys an alternative interpretation and adds yet another layer to the work.The recognizable then refers to our shared experiences. Sometimes, though, I purposefully juxtapose familiar objects with a setting out of context to create a new meaning, states Ragan. The viewer is forced to piece together shards of information that are embedded in our collective unconscious.

Overall, however, the content is very intuitive./ often ask myself, 'Why am I collecting that?' And the reason does not become clear until much later. Ragan repeatedly describes her work as the inexplicable world off aith, instinct, and emotion. Faith lies within the belief in herself and in the ultimate outcome; instinct defines her understanding and learned ability of the photographic process. Emotion reflects the personal, the intuitive part of creativity. I find that photography allows me a way to express myself It is a process in which I can explore and understand-learn and work things out.

To obtain the unusual characteristics of her photographs, Ragan shoots with black and white outdated Polaroid positive/negative film and then prints the negative on color paper. The damage on the negative is due to the age and chemical imbalance of the film, generating torn uneven edges.The image solarizes leaving a loose layer of extra silver on the negative. When the negative is printed in color, the chemicals in the final fix and wash react with the extra silver and form a rainbow streaking effect similar to New-

ton Rings.The fragile negatives and the continual migration of the silver can cause .each print to be slightly different. These less controlled results -the fades, jumps in tone, and the scratched background -are part of the challenge to Ragan.

Polaroid has been sponsoring Ragan since awarding her with material grants from 1981-1983 and support grants in 19831987.The corporation encouraged photographers to use a Polaroid camera on the stipulation that the company receives a small percentage of the work.This mutually beneficial relationship allowed Ragan to experiment: Since the results are so instant, I can play with the process, the objects and materials and realize the outcome immediately.

Vicki generally starts by building a set, selecting the objects, and then working them into the photographs. Small cardboard shadow boxes create miniature, surreal stages. Recently with the aid of digital technology, the artist. can scan each of the objects into her computer separately and then manipulate the assembly of images on the screen. In the spirit of experimentation, the artist often revisits old work, reviving certain themes or even reusing parts of old photographs.

Much of the artist's work is personal and involves experiences and memories from daily life. A female figure falls into a deep trance as metaphors of dreams circle around her in Lost in the Woods. This photograph feels like an enchanted private moment, perhaps an encapsulation of a particular time in Ragan's life.My work often reflects a tension between the undeniable (history, artifacts, autobiography) and the improbable (myths, dreams, poetry). With the delicate placement of fabric, a goddess of fertility, and the dress of the figure, we are reminded of the duties and expectations placed on a woman -motherhood, beauty, caring for our family.The woods and the dream provide a brief escape from reality. The figure's old-fashioned clothing and hairstyle, along with the color of the print, allude to earlier days. Ragan states that in all her work she deliberately attempts to communicate a quality of timelessness and time past, placing her photographs in the "ambiguity of history."The complex, yet quiet beauty of the print also concerns the artist; Ragan notes that the definition of beauty varies through the ages: What we consider beautiful is shaped by the time we live in, our shared and personal histories, and our emotional needs. Our standard for beauty goes through cycles in history and in our personal lives.

Physical direction is another common element in Ragan's work. Life is about finding your way, finding direction and meaning. I am very interested in how one processes that guiding information-and the different reference points used by female vs. male navigators. Females guide by emotion and by the familiar, as in landmarks, whereas

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/find males guide by instinct and compass points - north, south, east, west. She marks our place in her world through the utilization of maps and astronomical charts./ enjoy being able to 'sl;e'my surroundings from above-a view so concrete and real yet also abstract-impossible to behold with the naked eye.

In North Pole, Ragan uses a hand signal to point the way north. By means of our collective references, the hand alludes to God and his/her creation, an interpretation reinforced by the fish, a universal symbol of Jesus, and by the repeated compositions ofthree,for the HolyTrinity.We could also reference the hand of the artist, its contribution to the handiwork and its gifted ability.

Direction is even more emphasized in North Star as the star's axis neatly bypasses the shell, and subsequently the male and female forms. Although the couple is safely encased within the shell, these outer pressures seem to be swiftly enclosing on their environment. The corrosion of the film into the orb's shape stresses the illusion of a collapsing world or relationship. [see cover picture]

In Cedar Waxwing, the Greek statuesque female aims her arrow at the flying bird.Although the metaphor for flying equates to freedom, here the fates have taken a stand and confronted us with the reality of death. Even though the three dimensional images are overlaid onto a beautifully textured, scratched surface, the final effect is oddly flat.That is one of the tools that make Ragan's work so unique. It must be the way I perceive things. I am very aware of the flatness but it doesn't change.It is definitely in my perception. I look at what is immediately in front of me, close in, and detailed, and do not take in the distant view.

Poisonous Fish reveals a dreamlike atmosphere; the ocean serves as a metaphor for the subconscious and memories floating to the forefront. As a drifting fairy confronts the fish among the twining seaweed, the picture becomes a study of contrasts: beautiful vs. ugly, life vs. death, male vs. female, real vs. imaginary. The intensity of the meeting is communicated through direct eye contact and the perpendicular composition.

Vicki Ragan enjoys working on multiple projects simultaneously.Intimate Details is her newest body of photographs shot on Fuji color film. In this series, she displays the objects on her studio window, which provides a constant, beautiful light to the background.The close-up images and their sentimental or intimate associations lend the series its name.

Odd Jobs is a future book project with humorous pictorial descriptions of atypical professions including, of course, the photographer, the curator, and the art critic. On commenting on the humor in her work, the artist remarks, I think what I am doing is serious and then people comment on its comical quality. Since my understanding of humor is not the same, I try not to control it, but let it come out naturally in the work.

The Valentine Series is a group of work based on the holiday; here the eroticism only hinted at in other work becomes more explicit. The Astronomer's Daughter is a

current book proposal pairing Ragan's photographs with the poetry of Atlanta writer and professor Blake Leland.This same body of images is also in a 2001 exhibit entitled Measuring the Ineffable at the Center for Photography at Woodstock.According to Ragan, the title was inspired by a passing comment that her work "attempted to measure the immeasurable."

Ragan was born in 1951 in Greeley, Colorado, and is now living in Atlanta, Georgia. She took her first course in photography at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1970 and proceeded to receive an Associate Degree in commercial photography at Colorado Mountain College in Glenwood Springs. She received a Bachelor ofFineArts at the Chicago Art Institute and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona at Tucson.After graduate school, she worked as a scientific photographer in a structural biology lab at Brandeis University; At Brandeis, I often photographed strange objects that I did not understand-crystal molecular models,Jor example-and did illustrations for the scientist's articles.

In 1984, Ragan moved to New York to concentrate more fully on her photography.After getting married in 1986, she moved with her husba11d to Mexico City, and later Oaxaca, Mexico, and began illustrating for her husband's stories for the Houston Chronicle.Together Ragan and her husband illustrated and wrote their first book, Oaxacan Wood Carving: The Magic in the Trees. Ragan has since published two additional books: Oaxacan Ceramics (Chronicle Books, 2000) and The Edible Alphabet Book (Bulfinch Press, 1995).

In 1990, Ragan and her family moved to Atlanta. With the coming of the Summer Olympic Games in 1996, theAtlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs commissioned a number of local artists to create installations at Hartsfield International Airport. Ragan's Navigation Project, a group of forty-five photographs mounted in eight steel panels, was selected and is displayed permanently on the International Concourse.The navigation series combined images based on maps, NASA photographs, and astronomical charts with mythological figures and gods.

Vicki Ragan's photographs are in the permanent collections of the High Museum of Art,Atlanta; Brooklyn Museum of Fine Art, Brooklyn; Houston Museum of Fine Art, Houston; Islip Art Museum, Islip, NewYork;Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson,Arizona; Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson; and the Helmut Gernsheim Collection, University ofTexas,Austin. Her work has also appeared on the covers of Smithsonian and The British Journal of Photography.

Sally M. Faulkner works as an art consultant for EDL & Associates in Atlanta, Georgia. She has a Master of Arts in Art History from George Washington University, Washington, DC, and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Architectural Studies from Rice University, Houston, Texas. As a freelance writer, she has written for Art Papers, The Artist's Magazine,AmericanArtist, and Watercolor.

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1996-2000,Vicki Ragan,PoisonousFish, C print from Polaroid negative, ~0"x 16"

TheArtistryof20x24Photography

PhyllisLaorenzaLinnehan

There is a one-of-its-kind photographic medium that lends itself to individual artistic expression like no other medium in the world.And there are only four places on the planet where professional photographers can explore the creative potential of this powerful and versatile format to express their own visions for personal or commercial ventures.The unique imaging realm to which photographers the world over flock is large-format instant photography, offered exclusively by Polaroid Corporation in 20x24 studios in New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Prague.

For more than two decades photographers pursuing commercial projects or seeking personal expressionfrom the well known to the up-and-coming to the obscure-have been attracted to the remarkable 20x24 camera for the gorgeous, superbly detailed, over-sized prints it produces. William Wegman and his famous Weimaraners, for instance, can be found frequently in the 20x24 studio in New York. Wegman ambitiouslyand to his own creative outcome-even takes the massive camera on location!

Acclaimed portraitistJoyceTenneson has developed her own signature style working in the 20x24 format. Her photography commands a complex and intense emotional response from the viewer. Since most of her work involves portraiture and some degree of nudity, she says she prefers instant film because it is "particularly beautiful for skin."

Other noted photographers who have done well with the large instant format include Marsha Burns, Gregory Heisler, Ellen Land-Weber, Mary Ellen Mark, Patrick Nagatani,Jose Picayo, Vicki Ragan, and Andree Tracey, as well as film director Tim Burton and theater director Robert Wilson.

Spectacular Specs

The 20x24 camera is a sophisticated photographic system that produces high-resolution, full-color or blackand-white 20x24" (50x60 cm) contact photographs in 70 seconds.These features, combined with the ability to record the most minute detail, make the 20x24 system ideal for large-scale portraiture, fine art, and commercial photographic projects.

The camera itself is huge. Polaroid describes it as "big, bulky, and beautiful." It stands 5 feet (150 cm) high and weighs 235 pounds (106 kg). Its great girth is matched only by its rarity. There are only six such systems in the world. Four are housed in studios for rent -three in the

US, one in Europe-while the other two are located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photographer Elsa Dorfman operates a 20x24 portrait studio there and the sixth camera resides at the Rowland Institute for Science-a research organization founded by Dr. Edwin H. Land after he left Polaroid.

The system outputs to three different film types, which are manufactured by Polaroid with fade-resistant metalized color dyes:

1. Polacolor ER film, which is perfect for capturing subtle color nuances such as skin tones. It produces a high-quality, fine grain, glossy, instant color print.

2. Polacolor Pro film for remarkably vibrant yet true color.This new 20x24" film is available now in the US after its initial introduction in Europe.

3. PolaPan black-and-white, a medium speed and contrast film, which produces a full range of gray tones with great smoothness.

The huge 20x24 camera is mounted on wheels and features a full-size Fresnel viewing screen, which facilitates focusing and framing. Its lenses range from 135mm to 800mm,permitting minute reduction as well as 10 times magnification. The camera can be set up to duplicate transparencies from 35mm to 8xl0" (20x24 cm). While Polacolor films are not intended to be copy films, this duplication process works well for printing Image Transfer and Emulsion Lift -two creative Polaroid techniques that produce one-of-a-kind images with painterly effects.

Working with the 20x24: Dramatic to Mystic

Working with the 20x24 camera is sheer nirvana for many photographers and artists. The camera magically transforms the mundane into something extraordinary. Perhaps because of its size, it captures the imagination like no other imaging system past or present. It lures in photographer and subject, evoking intense visceral reactions in both.

For photographer Marsha Burns of Seattle, Washington, working with the 20x24 camera allowed her to produce images that were "far more dramatic" than small-format photographs. Burns produced a series of photographs, including Two Men Interview, using subjects off the streets to herald a message of valuing diversity and accepting individualism. Her intent was for viewers to re-evaluate their biases and learn to "approach people on a one-to-one basis."

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In the process, she discovered something mystical about 20x24 portraiture. It gave her the means to connect with people "on the edge" of society or "outside of the norm" and for those individuals in turn to view themselves in a positive way. As the camera gave them the ability to see themselves realistically as they appeared to others, Burns said her subjects "were suddenly elevated" and "instantly felt more important." She befriended many of them, from teenage drug addicts to battered women to AIDS-infected men, and even saw some transform their lives for the better.

Even though her 20x24 images involve objects, not people, California-based photographer Ellen Land-Weber can relate to the transcendental qualities of 20x24 photography. Land-Weber is fascinated with collages. She likes to assemble old prints, statutes, natural objects and specimens, and other pieces of interest -turning individual realities into collective fodder for the imagination.

During a photo shoot that produced a series of photographs that included The Whale Song, Land-Weber recalls how the staging of each exposure took on a life of its own. Boxes of props were coded and organized to expedite the shoot and make the most of her studio time. As she quickly constructed each set, Land-Weber sensed a bit of theatrics to the process. "It was like putting on a drama, putting on a play," she said. In pursuing her artistic vision on the 20x24 camera, and like so many others who have used it, she found that big is good and instant is gratifying.

Wegman's World

Famous photographer William Wegman has had a virtual love affair with the 20x24 camera for more than 20 years and has seen his approach evolve over the years. When he first began using the large-format instant camera in the late 1970s, he"really liked the quirks of it, where the colors were so bizarre or accidents would happen.That would kind of shake things up for me, and each time I used the camera, I'd come up with a different kind of a picture it seemed."

As a result, Wegman said it changed the way he thought about his work. For one thing, it allows him to be spontaneous. "Working with the camera the way I do, I don't really have a lot of preconceived ideas and I found that I can just follow the direction that seems to be happening."

Always accompanied by his willing Weimaraners, Wegman works in the New York studio regularly and has been using the camera "longer than any other single camera."This consistency, he says, helps him sum up the body of work with the dogs from one year to the next. He now shoots half his work in black-and-white and is photographing the dogs sans costumes, trying to get "closer and closer to them. It's more about the fur in a way and the light that's trapped in there," he said.

Wegman is especially attracted to the unique "surface quality" of 20x24 images, which he says is "unlike others." In fact, he is "fascinated and kind of in love with it -the depths of field, the types of color, the peculiarities of it. I also like that each couple of years the balance of the film changes or they'll come up with a different paper. That pushes me into new directions, too."

He compares using the camera to shooting a video.The instant nature of the output gives him immediate feedback and the ability to adjust his direction. "Almost always the first picture I take is something just to get started -to get my eyes and mind working. Just take that as a point of departure and let it lead me into the next. I'm working with living creatures - I can see at that moment what's going on and build the work while I'm there;' Wegman said.

On the other hand, he says the predictability of the format - always the same 20x24 vertical output - along with the requirements and restraints of working outside his own studio, help him focus and, if you can believe this of his genius," rein in the scatterbrain-ness of my thinking:'

Where It All Began: The History of the 20x24 Camera

Polaroid built the first 20x24 instant camera in 1977 to demonstrate the quality of large-format Polacolor film to company shareholders at an annual meeting.The camera weighed over 600 pounds and was a crude but effective assemblage featuring a barber-chair support as its "tripod:' A live portrait of Andy Warhol was made on the stage. The response to the film and the camera was overwhelmingly favorable and eventually led to the production of several more cameras and the creation of a Polaroid-run studio in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

After its debut, artists and commercial photographers were invited to use this exciting new photographic tool. Early practitioners includedAnselAdams, Marie Cosindas, Arnold Newman, and Olivia Parker,as well as Chuck Close and William Wegman -both of whom remain avid users to this day.The art and photographic world was in awe of the large-format instant prints. Galleries and museums all over the world rushed to display examples of creative images made in the new format, as well as 20x24 replicas of Impressionist master paintings from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. In many cases, it was difficult to distinguish the replicas from the original works of art.

By the early 1980s commercial interest in the camera increased. Photographers began to attract editorial and commercial clients with beautiful, lush figurative stilllife 20x24 images.The camera, still located in Cambridge, began to make frequent trips to New York for commercial assignments. Sandi Fellman was the most important photographer working commercially with the camera then and it was her success that encouraged Polaroid to open a permanent rental facility in New York. So, after several years of shuttling the gigantic camera up and

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down the Northeast corridor, the Polaroid 20x24 Studio opened its doors to great fanfare in Soho in April 1986.

The 20x24 Studio Catches On

Interest in the 20x24 studio in NewYork grew quickly and an impressive cadre of photographers soon became ent_husiastic fans and frequent users. Plum assignments such as the Barney's clothing campaign by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders andJoyceTenneson's Pirelli calendar in 1988 were accomplished with the 20x24 camera.

Art directors began realizing what photographers had discovered first about 20x24 photography - that the large-format instant image presents an extraordinary way to explore, innovate, and execute creative ideas. Instant feedback on a scale this large allows scrutiny of every aspect of image creation. In editorial or advertising shoots the entire creative team participates in the process, allowing for exciting collaboration like never before. Photographers and their clients are assured that when the day is over and they leave the studio, their expectations will be met or exceeded.

Based on the success of the New York studio, Polaroid decided in the 1990s to open two additional 20x24 studios in diverse global venues to meet the growing national and international demand for rentals. In 1994 the studio in Prague opened for business and in 1997 the studio in San Francisco began operations.

The Embodiment of 20x24

No one individual embodies 20x24 photography more than John Reuter.As director of the New York studio and a photographer and artist in his own right, Reuter has logged more time behind the camera than anyone - a span covering more than 20 years. He was first hired by Polaroid as a research photographer and then became the main photographer on the 20x24 and director of the New York studio.During this time,Reuter has pursued and carved out his own unique artistry based on the philosophy of taking advantage of the photographic process to transform the camera's reality into a more "mythic" reality, as evident in his image, Siblings.

Of working with the 20x24, Reuter says: "The 20x24 system allows the artist to execute his or her vision with the extraordinary scale and detail that only large format provides, coupled with instant technology that greatly speeds up the creative process. It can transform an artist's work, partly because of the process, the legend of its history, and the beautiful results."

As for his role as studio director, Reuter says: "The director's role is to support the artist with technical and creative advice or to completely fade into the background, allowing the artist to engage with the process.The director still supervises all technical aspects, but can do so without intrusion." Photographer Ellen Land-Weber said much of the credit for the work

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produced in New York should go to Reuter. His mastery of the camera elevates him beyond a mere technician, she said."He's more of a kind of creative director."Reuter encourages aµphotographers to experiment at least once with the 20x24 format. "While the 20x24 camera may not be for everyone, I believe all artists can further their vision and rise to new creative levels with the system;' he said.

The 20x24 Today

The legendary 20x24 camera continues to lure photographers and excite their imaginations. Each studio venue attracts its share of regular and new users. In New York, the studio buzzes with activity as such core clients as William Wegman, Joyce Tenneson, Jose Picayo, and others engage in projects ranging from personal fine art work to editorial and advertising photography.

Tenneson's latest body of work (LightWarriors, published in November 2000) consists of 20x24 images shot in the New York studio using a new cross-toning Polaroid process, sometimes called "Chocolate.'The cross-

toning process produces luminous photographs with a chocolately brown tone and suppressed highlights, almost like old albumen prints. With Chocolate, the darkest blacks often reverse in a solarized way.The oneof-its-kind, experimental instant technique involves crossing Polacolor ER negative (as in Type 809) and PolaPan positive and reagent (as in Type 804).

Recent advances in digital technology allow 20x24 photographs, including Chocolate images, to be reproduced on the printed page with the extraordinary detail and subtle color for which they are known. In fact, 20x24 photography can hold its own in the age of digital, according to Reuter, who likens the venerable format to "audiophile vinyl." "Connoisseurs of music insist that tube amplifiers and state-of-the-art turntables are the best way to listen to music," he says. "Analog is capable of subtle transitions that still elude digital replication and the same may hold true for imagery produced by this large scale analog medium.

"We can enjoy the best of both worlds, acquiring our imagery by this immediate analog capture but taking

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24x20"

advantage of digital copies to create editions or enlarge this image even further," Reuter said.

Rental Infor,mation

Exploring the one-of-a-kind art form of 20x24 photography is simply a matter of renting one of the 20x24 Camera Studios in NewYork,San Francisco,Boston, or Prague. Each location offers all the amenities of a fully staffed and equipped working studio, including the dedicated service of a technical expert to operate the camera and supervise studio lighting, with assistance as comprehensive or unobtrusive as desired. Studio shooting areas range from 900 to 1400 square feet (300 to 500 sq.m) with 11 ½-foot ceilings (3.5 m), dressing rooms, reception areas and, in New York, a kitchenette. Each studio has basic lighting equipment and accessories; in New York this includes a remote-controlled Broncolor Cumulite Softbox mounted on ceiling tracks for easy positioning, autopoles, century stands, clamps and crossbars. Black, white, or gray 9-foot (3 m) seamless paper background is provided. Daily studio rental rates range from $600 to $1,200 depending on location, with half-day and hourly rentals available. Film cost averages $45 per exposure. Estimates are available from the studio directors for on-location shoots.

Studio Contacts

John Reuter, Director Polaroid 20x24 Studio 588 Broadway, Suite 1010

NewYork,NY 10012

Tel: 212-925-1403

Fax: 212-925-2239

E-mail:reuterj@polaroid.com

Tracy Storer, Director Calumet Pro Center 2001 Bryant Street San Francisco, CA 94110

Tel: 415-643-9275

Fax: 415-643-9280

E-mail: tracy.storer@calumetphoto.com

Jan Hnizdo, Director Studio 3000

Cistovicka 44, CZ-16300 Prague-Czech Republic

Tel: (011) 420-230-22787

Fax: (011) 420-230-24606

E-mail: jhnizdo@iol.cz

Keitaro Yoshioka, Director Mass. College of Art 621 HuntingtonAve. Boston, MA 02115

Tel: 617-542-0096

Fax:same

E-mail: oshifoto@aol.com

To see the camera and some of the fabulous work photographers have produced with it, and to get more information online, visit the "Artist's Studio" at www.polaroid.com.

Owning a Piece

of the Legend: 20x24 Cameras for Sale

For the past 20-plus years Polaroid Corporation mostly has been the exclusive owner of all six 20x24 cameras in existence. But that historic precedence is about to change.The Wisner Classic Manufacturing Company, Inc., in conjunction with Polaroid, is building and selling 20x24 cameras, albeit on a smaller scale than the original ones designed by Polaroid. Now, professional photographers and artists can acquire their own piece of the legendary instant large-format system and begin making 20x24 history.

"The new systems are being built to satisfy the desire of many photographers to have their own 20x24 camera," said John Reuter, director of the 20x24 studio in New York. "Not all clients want to have to come to a rental studio and prefer to work on their own schedule."

The new Wisner 20x24 camera is a two-part system consisting of a Wisner 20x24 field camera and an offcamera processor based on the Polaroid replica process camera. The system is portable and comparatively light -the camera weighs 50 lbs. (23 kg) and the processor weighs 75 lbs. (34 kg), permitting location shooting. It outputs horizontal pictures, utilizes back standard tilts, and points down much further than "all-in-one" camera systems.

Wisner plans to build six camera units per year. Polaroid is accepting orders, although there is currently a sixmonth waiting list, and will review each application carefully."We are looking for situations where the camera will be a prominent part of a photographer's business," said Reuter.

The new 20x24 camera will sell for approximately $30,000.Also available is an optional customer service package for $3000, which will include a case of film and two days of training.An initial deposit of $1000 will hold a place in line.A 50 percent deposit is required to begin construction, which takes approximately 12 weeks. Interested parties should contact John Reuter in New York by phone, fax, or e-mail.

Phyllis Laorenza Linnehan is a freelance writer and photography connoisseur based in Bedford, Massachusetts. She can be reached at phyll@gis.net.

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fingers touch upon the drawings for my house ... With the desire for a language lost a long time ago, the body has become the place where talk begins. The body responded to its environment by submitting to silence before it knew how to voice its own existence. It was taught that talk equaled danger and silence was appreciated. Quickly it took on the function as a house in which mute memories and unspeakable experiences had to be stored-a house which today partly exists of closed rooms, secret rooms, and even rooms that have disappeared and have yet to be found.

I work autobiographically by tracing the alternative stories that lie behind the surface of family snapshots. With the snapshots as a site for the strange and eventual retrieval of memory, I am reframing my past through the consciousness of the present.

BirgittaLund, born in Copenhagen Denmark, currently resides in New York and has a studio in Snug Harbor, NY. Her work has been exhibited at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Centro De La Imagen in Mexico City, and at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Copenhagen. Her images are in the collections of the Center for Photography, Amsterdam Centrum voor Fotografie, and the Nuddle Collection in NYC.

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In light artists are selected from the Center's Slide Registry - a slide archive of contemporary photography, mixed media,and digital imagery.It provides a bridge between artists, curators, collectors, educators, and the Center, making contemporary work easyto access- by appointment -Wednesday-Sunday noon t~ 5pm. Pq/25

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80 galleries and dealers exhibitin the finest photographic art from the 19th century to cutting edge contemporary photo -based art.

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