Polaroid 54 / 59 / 79

Dana Lixenberg’s ‘Polaroid 54/59/79’ is remarkable collection reflecting the American celebrity culture she encountered in the 1990s and 2000s. It takes us back to the heyday of print media, when photos were primarily analogue. The title refers to the types of peel-apart instant film Lixenberg used between 1993 and 2010, when Polaroid prints formed an essential part of her work process, serving as test and reference material for lighting and composition. She made these Polaroid tests in between shooting, usually in black and white. Their inherently analogue qualities – marked by uneven patches, notes, scratches, or fingerprints – attest to their uniqueness and utilitarian function.