Miguel

1999

Miguel, 1999. Dawoud Bey (American, b. 1953). Polaroid; image: 61 x 52.9 cm (24 x 20 13/16 in.); image with border: 68.8 x 55.2 cm (27 1/16 x 21 3/4 in.); paper: 73.4 x 55.8 cm (28 7/8 x 21 15/16 in.); mounted: 74.4 x 56.6 cm (29 5/16 x 22 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Carl and Joan Schneider 2018.310.1 In 1991 Bey attained access to Polaroid’s 20 x 24-inch view camera, a massive, complex, and highly specialized piece of equipment that produced monumental versions of the then-familiar, lushly colored instant pictures. He began experimenting with conveying several moments, and multiple aspects of a sitter’s experience, in a single work by combining individual exposures from the same sitting. The camera used to make this photograph weighed around 265 pounds and is 6 feet tall.