i have the great privilege of being surrounded by creatives and artistic minds throughout my day, everyday. i’m even more humbled to call some of these folks my close friends. one i wanted to highlight in particular has been a dear companion for a good number of years now and also shares my love and enthusiasm of instant film.
bryan vana, shot by me. taken in philadelphia, fall of 2009.
meet bryan. a graduating collegiate, a quiet sometimes shy fellow with an apt love for the good things in life. film, photography, music, adventures (of the big and small persuasion.) from the day he turned 21 to the day he turned 22, he had a goal to shoot every single new person he met, capturing that awkward new and magical moment with nothing more than a single polaroid. being someone i knew to be quite shy and sometimes reserved, a hard person to get close to, i was very intrigued by the whole thing. watching him grow, as an artist and a person, and the project manifest has been incredibly gratifying – just as a bystander. having been granted wall-space he was able to share the project with everyone involved and more. being so taken with the project, i wanted to share it as well. bryan was kind enough to answer a few questions and also share some of his favorite images from the year which i’m thrilled to be including now.
(for more on danielle, another great and talented friend, please visit her fabulous webcomic – girls with slingshots.)
what made you want to begin this project? : Mainly I wanted to do something completely apart from my assignments at school. This is my final year so I wanted to have something on the side to work on that would make my senior effort really count.
what was the hardest part? : The hardest part was probably just being up front with people. Approaching those I met with my idea, it was tough knowing that not everyone wanted to be part of something creative. And I’ve always been very shy around people that are new to me, so I had to force myself to be social for each one of those pictures.
did you miss anyone? : Regrettably, I missed about a dozen or so people for different reasons. A couple of times I either didn’t have my camera with me or forgot to throw an extra pack of film in my bag. Once I had a person insist that we shoot her photograph another time. Once I even had a cartridge die on me; I later salvaged that specific pack by changing out the battery manually, which was difficult.
do you have a favorite memory behind any of these photographic experiences? : I do, yeah. The weekend of September 19th, 2009 I traveled down to visit my brother at James Madison University and was introduced to 15 different people in less than one day. Josh is a pretty popular local musician down there as well as a resident director at JMU, so he knows a lot of people. That night we met up with his friend Danny at a bar, listened to some live music and then had a brief drunken adventure on campus that made my trip completely worthwhile. It’s one of my best college memories for sure. Since then I’ve made it a point to see Danny every time I visit.
how many people were incredibly uncomfortable with having their photo taken? how many people thrived on it? : The number of people that really did not want to do it would surprise you. Maybe I’m not quite so charming. But overall I’ve witnessed a great deal of interest and support for the project here at school, which is extremely gratifying. I’ve been able to share it with classmates and instructors through having my own exhibition. Wall space was granted to me by Amanda Hostalka, a professor of art here at Stevenson whom I met about halfway through the project.
which subjects were your favorites? : I mean, in general… really just the people who tried to help me create images that were more than just snapshots. Sometimes when I was feeling a little burned out on traditional portraits I would ask my subjects for ideas and we’d work together to do something different. In many cases I was pleased with the results, so I definitely have to give credit to those who contributed creatively. Thanks, guys! And sure, there are a few in particular that I hold above others. Danielle Corsetto, Jonathan Brower, Ashley Kirby… I feel I’m walking away from the project with some of the best Polaroids I’ve ever taken.
and, of course, why Polaroid? : There was really no other choice. I shoot a good deal with my Nikkormat and Holga but when I originally had the idea to take a picture of each new person I met, I imagined interaction beyond just snapping a photo. Polaroid allowed me something much more personal: the ability to watch each portrait develop right there in front of the subject’s eyes. I’ve been shooting Polaroids since the summer before my freshman year of college and so I’m very familiar with the wonder of instant film, but introducing the format to a few people who had never had their Polaroids taken was rewarding to say the least. Some folks were so impressed that they claimed they would go home and dig out their parents’ old Polaroid cameras that same day.
Whenever I try to sum up my feelings for Polaroid I always end up thinking about this song “I Guess I Planted” by Woody Guthrie:
I guess I planted some long lonesome seed of a song
Way down inside me long ago
And now I can’t remember when it was
But it joined up with the rest of them and grows
It’s such a little song, it don’t compare
With all your big ones you hear everywhere
But when it dawns way in the back of your mind
The big ones are made up of the little kind
I’m not sure if that makes sense to anyone else, but for me it describes my feelings for the format and for analog photography in general. Not that my work has much to do with unions… I don’t know. It makes sense to me.
for more on bryan, or to keep up with his work (which i suggest you do) please go here and here.
