One of the charms of a Polaroid camera was its immediacy ... snap, grab the tab, pull the photo out of the camera, wait a few minutes and instant gratification is in your hand. In the pre-digital age, it was a big deal that we didn't have to wait for photos to be developed.
But the results of the chemical emulsion process that developed the picture could be unpredictable -- sometimes delightful, sometimes a little weird.
"Instant Magic," an enjoyable exhibit of Polaroid art at Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Little Rock showing through Sept. 30, offers 36 images ranging from actual photographs to emulsion lifts and image transfers by five members of the Blue Knocker group of photographers -- Brandon Markin, Darrell Adams, Lynn Frost, Rachel Worthen and Rita Henry. The exhibit was coordinated by Henry.
Using a variety of techniques, the images can take on characteristics one might normally see in printmaking or various forms of painting. A nostalgic, retro glow is mostly unavoidable, whether in the mind of the viewer or the image ... or both.
The 8-by-10 images are fascinating, especially if you didn't know Polaroids could be that large. Some photographers left the tabs on their images, giving their work an anchoring reference. Adams' Argenta Drug, a Polaroid 809 8-by-10 film image, captures a perfect subject -- retro camera shoots retro drugstore.
Henry and Frost have created particularly interesting images. Frost's humorously titled Cat Scan -- a cat skeleton image created by an emulsion transfer -- has a fossil-like quality. Her striking Mourning After -- a shattered image of Marilyn Monroe on a mug -- also stands out.
In the moody Lennie's Moment X 2, Henry offers two versions of a man facing a cross, a scene that feels Southern Gothic and chillingly mysterious.
While Markin chose not to show the tabs on his 8-by-10 photos, Upon This Foundation, which shows a woman standing in the doorway of a kitchen, has the aura of a still from a foreign film, perhaps Fellini. Markin's work is strikingly retro-hued contemporary, even without the tabs.
"Instant Magic," through Sept. 30, Christ Episcopal Church, 509 Scott St., Little Rock. Hours: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-noon Friday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday. Enter via the south parking lot. Information: (870) 538-7414 or dianashearon@gmail.com.
Weekend on 07/28/2016