3 Photographers who transformed Polaroids into fine art.

Polaroid today is marketed as an easy (yet expensive) way to recapture everything that has been amalgamated into the word “vintage.” Consumers want to synthesize what they feel like it was to live in the past: a dreamy grain-filled paradise that had a greater sense of glamour and taste. Polaroid has quite successfully expanded its brand into accessories and fast fashion merchandise for its increasing line of primary colored plastic cameras. But Polaroids don’t have to reflect what it must feel like to hallucinate inside an urban outfitters. This accessible medium has been transformed over the years to make beautiful, groundbreaking work. Here are 3 photographers who used Polaroids to enhance their voices and made their mark in the landscape of photography.

Dawoud Bey (born 1953) is an American photographer and educator born and raised in Queens, New York, who studied photography at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Dawoud Bey's photography is deeply rooted in his personal philosophies and desire to represent marginalized groups of people underrepresented in mainstream culture. His work focuses on issues of identity, race, and the history of photographic representation in America. Bey’s body of work is largely built from photographing people from his own community and those who have been other-ed, excluded from the white monolith known to be the art world.

Bey has stated that his approach to photography is informed by a desire to create images that "reflect the complexities of the people and the world around us." He believes that photography has the power to challenge stereotypes and reshape our understanding of the world and that it could be used as a tool for social change.

Throughout his career, Bey has photographed various subjects, from teenagers in Harlem to residents of the American South. He is particularly known for his large-scale color portraits, which capture the nuances and complexities of his subjects' personalities and identities. He often works in collaboration with his subjects, encouraging them to pose and express themselves in ways that feel authentic to them.

Bey’s transitioned to Polaroid after a long career shooting 35mm street photography. As his contemporaries began to find a similar rhythm in street work, he questioned the ethics behind a practice that he felt disadvantaged the subject in favor of the photographer. This power indifference began to represent the same subjection he spent his whole career dismantling. In 1988 he began to use a tripod-mounted 4X5 camera with Polaroid Type 55 Positive/Negative. This allowed him to slow down his process and reach a personal intimacy with his subjects that transcended beyond the instantaneous street photo. Using this camera, he gave his subjects the instant photo and retained the negative to make a large print. This kind of mutually beneficial transition seemed to fit more in line with the ethical lines Bey set for himself early in his career.