call to action – polaroids

A life living sculpture Polaroid project.

When Charlotte Jansen, curator of Photo London, chose my work with the comment „expansive nature of work that pushes the boundaries of photography“ I felt honored.

I started to rethink my former project „a friend is a friend of a friend“ by transposing it into the present. New people, new faces, new places, new camera, new format – still analogue, still present in the here and now.

This rethinking gained ground as a community project in five locations in Berlin, and then travelled to Photo London where, at the fair, it was able to grow further.

In London I created a new format, a game: visitors were challenged to recognize me in four of the many Polaroids (there were five photos of me in the batch). The successful visitor won a photo shoot for free.

I took two pictures of the winner, with a Polaroid camera – one #(1/2) went directly onto the wall at the exhibition, the other picture #(2/2) stayed with the model. The thrill and fun here is to interact with the unknown models, in unknown places.

Everybody gets the chance to be part of this living, growing sculpture project, everybody gets their five minutes of fame. The individualities, manifested each in a tiny Polaroid, become author, audience, and community at the same time. It’s like a glimpse of people living in Berlin appears in London and to be continued…

So far 85 people are part of the Polaroid project.

Exhibition

2024 Photo London, London, solo presentation by nüüd.berlin gallery

Credits

Thanks to Graham Carlow for the Photo London picture: https://grahamcarlow.com/