Instant Gratification

The Polaroid Project offers an unprecedented overview of the Polaroid phenomenon in all its facets. Comprising some 200 images by more than 100 artists, along with 90 camera models and prototypes, the exhibition explores not only the aesthetic spectrum of instant photography, but also the technological innovations that made this visual revolution possible. The Polaroid Project will be displayed at the Museum of Arts and Crafts (MKG) in Hamburg from 16 March to 17 June 2018.

The long-since legendary term ‘Polaroid’ has come to stand for a technological feat, a commercial brand and a style of photography. The innovation of instant film – first introduced to the public in 1947 by Edwin H. Land – made the elaborate darkroom process suddenly superfluous: as if by magic, the printed picture appears before the eyes of the photographer and his subjects. This approach to image-making has also left its mark on digital photography, not least in the form of instant photo apps and Instagram pictures.
For artists, instant photography can be a unique and endlessly versatile creative tool with which to generate new impulses within the medium. So it is not surprising that legendary pop-culture icons such as Andy Warhol extensively used Polaroid photography within the context of their work, and thereby elevated this ingenious invention to the realm of art.


For further details visit Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg