Untitled, from the series "Wild West"

Description

In 1986 the Polaroid company invited David Levinthal to experiment with its 20 × 24–inch camera, a massive apparatus weighing more than 200 pounds. Because instant photographs are printed right in the camera, large pictures necessitate large equipment. Levinthal liked the saturated colors, lustrous surface, and large size of the resulting photograph, and it became his primary format for the next 20 years. Dark brown and yellow development stains along the edges of the print were formed by residues of developing chemicals and are typical of large instant photographs. The prints are exceptionally sensitive to light and creasing, requiring careful handling.

Untitled, from the series "Wild West"

David Levinthal

1989

Accession Number

242395

Medium

Dye diffusion print

Dimensions

50.8 × 61 cm (20 × 24 in.)

Classification

photograph

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Anonymous gift