Interview: Richard Pearson.

I mentioned the work of Richard Pearson a short while ago (see:Polaroid books on Blurb. Richard Pearson.) in relation to his recently published book Vanishing Land (available through Blurb at: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/241573), and on the strength of the preview available emailed him a few questions, about his use of Polaroid and the incorporation of collage (as the image below illustrates).

When did you start using integral Polaroid film?

I started using Polaroid back in 1998 in college at Brooks Institute. I never used it for any classes we just brought it out for parties and fun things. At the time I never thought of Polaroid as a photographic Art form. You know just take a snap of Sandy and throw it in a drawer...Back then it was so cheap to shoot, some days we would go through 8 or 9 packs and not think twice about it. It was by far my favorite film, because you never knew what you were going to get.

When did you start incorporating collage?

It was not till 2003. I was doing some cleaning and found about 200 Polaroids. I told myself I can't throw these away, there has to be something I can do with them. So, in the kitchen I started tearing the backs off and washing them with water. Come to find out, once you do that they become transparent. I took some of the stuff I was throwing away, old books, hand written letters and put them behind the Polaroids.

The first Collages didn't have many words. I was having trouble getting words and images to stick to the back. A friend and I came up with a way that lets me select words and images. So everything you see in my images are added by hand from the backside of the Polaroid.

Could you name three important influences?

Robert Frank- because he was a photographic pioneer, David Lynch- taught me there is always something in the shadows, and it doesn't always have to be a pretty, Jeff Koons- taught me that I can use anything to make art, Radiohead- takes me on the train through my thoughts and ideas.....(and is playing probably 85% of the time when I'm working on Polaroids).

How do the different photographic methods function in regard to your overall practice?

This is a good question! I view them as totally separate. Polaroids being more of a process to make, you have to go through multiple steps to finish one. My photos are mostly snapshots, what you see is what you get. I don't believe in all that Photoshop shit. Sure I use it, but I don't make Polly look like she's 28 when in fact she's 67. Most people see a photograph and say, "nice shot" and then they move on. The Polaroids that I do force you to look beyond the image. What’s behind the words, what’s behind the image?

Think about how ahead of its time Polaroid really was and in my opinion still is. With Digital you still have to go through a couple of steps to get your pictures. Sure you can look at them on your camera but you can't hold them in your hand, you can't see the pixels melting together to form a picture. Polaroid, gives you a lasting pure image, un-touched and outside of the information age, in a matter of seconds. To me it’s the purest form of Photography...

You have a post on Rapidview (5.15.2008): "I added a few packs of Polaroid to my stash. 46 packs. I hit 4 Wal-Marts. $12.14 a pack. The best deal came in Auburndale, they had the double packs for $19.00. It’s still hard to figure out what’s going on with Polaroid. Time is closing in…"Have you thought about how you will continue your practice if/when Polaroid film is no longer available?

You know I think about that question everyday, I just don't think you can do what I do without Polaroid. I’m still amazed at why Polaroid Corp. is shutting it down!?? Its almost like, if Apple decided to stop making computers and started making cars, it just doesn't make sense! And that’s the whole point behind Vanishing Land. As society gets its hands on more information we start to make sense less and less.

Richard Pearson can be found online at:
http://rapidview.blogspot.com/