Miguel

1999

Miguel, 1999. Dawoud Bey (American, b. 1953). Polaroid; image: 60.8 x 53 cm (23 15/16 x 20 7/8 in.); image with border: 68 x 55.5 cm (26 3/4 x 21 7/8 in.); paper: 73.5 x 55.8 cm (28 15/16 x 21 15/16 in.); mounted: 74.4 x 56.8 cm (29 5/16 x 22 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Carl and Joan Schneider 2018.310.3 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.