In 1980 I was inspired by the "melting face" cover
of Peter Gabriel's third LP to do some Polaroid
manipulation of my own. All the pictures here
are digitally unretouched. I achieved the results by
pushing on the outside of the developing shots,
taken with an early Polaroid SX-70 (which I still have), with
various objects (toothpicks, popsicle sticks,
cigarette lighter) before the chemicals in the picture
hardened. As soon as I could start to see an
image I got to work. These were all done in 1980-81
except for the dozen roses, which was a return
to the idea in 1989. As usual, in most cases I did
self-portraiture, partly because it was easier
to set up and partly because I didn't want everyone to know
that I was artistic; you know how that can be
misconstrued in smalltown West Virginia. I was dying to
express myself and feel like an artist in what
I felt was no-artists-land, so I put myself front
and center in my work for self-validation. Ah,
youth...
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
All photos ©2003 Babaziba Artworks. All rights reserved. Reproduction without written permission prohibited.