One Last Shot: Signed Polaroids Photographs by Henny Garfunkel
September 17 - October 31, 2007
Opening Reception September 25 at 6pm
Henny Garfunkel has been photographing the world’s preeminent film festivals for the past 15 years, creating editorial features in the magazines entertainment Weekly, Premiere, Filmmaker, Paper, in Style, Time, Vanity Fair, elle, Jane, Sundance insider (as well as the Sundance Channel), and numerous other international publications. This series of signed Polaroids is an exhibition of photographs taken at the very end of a photo session with a film personality. The photos were done over various years, starting in 2000 at the Sundance and Toronto film festivals, and the subject was told to do whatever he or she liked. The result is a collection of relaxed, occasionally beautiful, often hilarious, deer-caught-in-the-headlights portraits. With each subject asked to sign his or her name and write whatever else they pleased, the Polaroids and their autographs add another layer of grace and insight into these well-known personalities.
One Last Shot: Signed Polaroids is free and open to the public. The photographs are on display in the Walter Reade Theater’s Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery at Lincoln Center. Gallery hours are 2-8 pm daily.
"i started photographing at film festivals in 1993, doing editorial features for various magazine publications. the work was part documentary and part portraiture. working at a film festival is very hectic and there is a frenzy in the air, as the talent and the press are on very tight schedules, getting shuffled from one appointment to the next, and time is of the essence.
over the years, many of the same actors and directors passed before me, and there developed a familiarity between me and the subjects. in many ways, the talent and i pass quickly though eachothers lives, and i like to connect with these people, even for a few moments. its all part of making a good photo, some connection.....
the signed polaroid series was started as an experiment, at the sundance film festival 2000.. a personal art project at the end of a photo session with a film personality..one last photo..something new to do that would be fun and interesting, in contrast to a more formal portrait. my style has always been more reportage and casual, so it was a natural transition.
polaroids are so beautiful and have such great texture and immediacy. they are considered less serious, rough and imperfect and there's a certain familiarity about using that camera that encourages people to open up and relax. polaroid film is slowly becoming extinct as the world goes more digital, and its harder to find, which makes it more special.
i found that people were really into it, and it seemed to free them , and they started to make faces, fool around, and in some instances, draw directly on the polaroid. i let them do whatever they wanted. it began to dispel the notion of celebrity and beauty, and made them more regular and normal, and they had a sense of humor about themselves. the signature adds another layer to the photo, as the autograph, which is such a part of celebrity culture, lends insight into the personality.
the signed polaroids were done over various years at the the sundance and toronto film festivals.
the project continues."
~ henny garfunkel, 2007
The photos for One Last Shot: Signed Polaroids, Photographs by Henny Garfunkel were scanned and printed by Joseph Oland and the Jones Photographic Lab, Tucson, Ariz. The opening reception is sponsored by
and
The Film Society of Lincoln Center presents curated exhibits in the Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery at the Walter Reade Theater that either compliment the programming or are film related art shows. Inaugurated in 1991, the space was designed by prestigious architectural firm Davis Brody and named in honor of the Furmans, longtime supporters of the Film Society.
