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29-691: Beginning in the 1940s, the Polaroid Corporation hired noted artists to test their film and cameras, and then acquired some of the results. In 1949, Polaroid's founder Edwin Land hired one of these photographers, Ansel Adams, to consult on the collection. Adams remained a consultant to the collection for 35 years. By the 1960s, Land's informal offers to artists to use the company's equipment and film eventually evolved into its Artists Support Program, which also provided access to its dedicated 20×24 inch Polaroid camera studio . Selected artists were also able to borrow

58-684: A $ 722,000 USD, the highest ever paid for an Adams work at the time. In 2011 the Westlicht Museum in Vienna, in collaboration with the Impossible Project , acquired a cache of 4400 prints from the collection that had been stored in Lausanne's Musée de l'Élysée . The two organizations paid $ 705,000 USD for the prints, which included works by Marina Abramović and Ulay , Ansel Adams, Walker Evans , Chuck Close , David Hockney and Andy Warhol . 1400 of

87-449: A 150-foot-long (46 m) negative roll and a 50-foot-long (15 m) positive roll. After the negative is exposed, one foil pod is ruptured by the rollers and the developing chemicals are spread between the negative and positive rolls as the film exits the bottom of the camera's rear processor; 1 1 ⁄ 2 minutes after exposure, the negative and positive are peeled apart, producing the finished photograph. According to John Reuter,

116-807: A camera and each exposure was an additional US$ 125 (equivalent to $ 159 in 2023). Improvements to the chemistry made using the old, stored film more viable, and 20×24 Studio later announced they would be able to continue operations through 2019. In 2021, Ethan Moses built a new 20x24 camera, utilizing the RA-4 Reversal Process, which, while nearly instant, is not "Polaroid". Photographers such as Dawoud Bey , Ellen Carey , Chuck Close , Elsa Dorfman , Timothy Greenfield-Sanders , David Levinthal , Mary Ellen Mark , Robert Rauschenberg , Joyce Tenneson , Jennifer Trausch , Andy Warhol , TJ Norris , and William Wegman have used this heavy (235 lb or 107 kg), wheeled-chassis camera. Ansel Adams used

145-653: A check for $ 150 to Philip Whalen who was then in Kyoto , Japan, and he in turn enlisted Gary Snyder , who could speak Japanese , to purchase the camera and mail it to her. In May 1968, she moved into the Flagg Street house which would become the basis of her Housebook . Dorfman's principal published work, originally published in 1974, was Elsa's Housebook – A Woman's Photojournal, a photographic record of family and friends who visited her in Cambridge when she lived there during

174-457: A former Polaroid employee, only six cameras were built between 1976–78; five remain in use. Tracy Storer clarified that two prototypes were built first, then using the lessons learned, five finished cameras were completed; famous artists and photographers were invited to use the cameras at the Polaroid studios on the condition that Polaroid was allowed to keep some of the resulting images. The camera

203-506: A secretary by Grove Press , a leading Beat publisher. When she returned to Boston, she pursued a master's degree in elementary education at Boston College . After earning her master's degree, Dorfman spent a year teaching fifth grade at a school in Concord . Calling herself the "Paterson Society", Dorfman began arranging readings for many Beat authors who had become friends, maintaining an active correspondence with them as they traveled

232-486: Is one of the largest format cameras currently in common use, and could be hired from Polaroid agents in various countries. A plexiglass sheet is taped to the front of the lens, and the subject uses their reflection to help determine where they are in the frame. Because of the size of the image, acquiring an image with sufficient depth of field can be a challenge, and the lens (the camera at 20×24 Studio in New York City

261-715: The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Harvard Art Museums , the Portland Museum of Art in Maine and others. In 1967, Dorfman met Harvey Silverglate, who was representing the defense in a drug trial. Dorfman thought the case could be the subject of a book and talked it over with him, after which Silverglate asked her to take a portrait of him and his brother to give to their mother. They married nearly

290-590: The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota . Some controversy followed the decision to auction the works, as several artists said that they had lent or given their work to the collection with the expectation that it would remain in the collection in perpetuity. The auction was very successful, generating $ 12.4 million USD. Some works were sold for record-setting values; Ansel Adams' Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park sold for

319-494: The BOTTOM of the camera. I always feel I am delivering a baby or praying to a cameragod because I pull the film out on my knees. The pod end comes out first.  —  Elsa Dorfman , from photographer's website Developing chemicals are stored in foil pods housed in the processing unit at the rear of the camera, and are applied to the exposed film via 22-inch-wide (56 cm) titanium rollers. The film comes on two rolls:

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348-541: The Boston rock scene such as Jonathan Richman , frontman of The Modern Lovers, and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. In 1995, she collaborated with graphic artist Marc A. Sawyer to illustrate the booklet 40 Ways to Fight the Fight Against AIDS . She photographed people, both with and without AIDS , each engaged in one of forty activities that might help AIDS victims in their daily life. The photographs were exhibited 1995 at

377-662: The Lotus Development Corporation in Cambridge, in Provincetown and New York City . The artist donated the costs of producing the photographs for this project. Dorfman co-starred in the documentary No Hair Day (1999). She was known for her use of the Polaroid 20 by 24 inch camera (one of only six in existence), from which she created large prints. She photographed famous writers, poets, and musicians including Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg . Due to bankruptcy,

406-496: The Polaroid Corporation entirely ceased production of its unique instant film products in 2008. Dorfman stocked up with a year's supply of her camera's last available 20 by 24 instant film. Dorfman's life and work were the subject of the 2016 documentary film The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography , directed by Errol Morris . Her portraits are held in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art ,

435-615: The Studio's camera moved to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1982. That year, camera time was made available to students. 20×24 Studio moved to New York in 1986 to service the demand for commercial photography there, and the original space became known as 20×24 Studio Boston. In 1997, Tracy Storer assembled the first new production 20×24 in twenty years using spare parts and a 20×24 field camera front built by Wisner Classic Manufacturing Company ; Storer had been hired by Calumet Photographic to build

464-420: The bellows can be extended from 17 to 60 in (43 to 152 cm); the front standard has a movement range of 24 in (61 cm) (rise and fall), 6 in (15 cm) (side-to-side shift), and 4 in (10 cm) (swing) while the rear standard is fixed and has no movements. The body of the camera may be moved from 24 to 72 in (61 to 183 cm) above ground level.   The film comes out of

493-461: The camera for a new large format studio in San Francisco, which was renamed The Polaroid 20×24 Studio West in 2001, and later Mammoth Camera. Storer has since built additional 20×24s on private commission and for 20×24 Holdings, one of which was shipped to Germany. Wisner also offered a processor for Polaroid film (essentially the rear section of a 20×24), allowing the use of Polaroid 20×24 film with

522-469: The camera, notably to make the first official photographic Presidential portrait, of President Jimmy Carter in 1979. . To celebrate Lady Gaga 's new role as Creative Director of Polaroid, a portrait of her was shot with the 20×24 camera on June 30, 2010 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . Elsa Dorfman Elsa B. Dorfman (April 26, 1937 – May 30, 2020)

551-560: The cameras to use outside of the Polaroid 20x24 studio. The artists in turn provided the Polaroid Collection with examples of the work they produced using Polaroid's technology. In parallel with Land and Adams' work on the collection, and the photographs produced by the Artist's Support Program, Polaroid's European branch also purchased photographs by photographers such as David Bailey , Sarah Moon , Helmut Newton and Josef Sudek under

580-415: The large Wisner field camera; at least one Wisner processor is owned by 20×24 Holdings to test film. Production of the film for the 20×24 was discontinued in 2008, with approximately 550 boxes in stock at the time. Each case of film contained one negative roll, three positive rolls, and 39 pods, able to make up to 45 exposures with sparing use. When the photographer Elsa Dorfman retired in 2015, only half

609-546: The late 1960s and early 1970s. Many well known people, especially literary figures associated with the Beat generation , are prominent in the book, including Lawrence Ferlinghetti , Allen Ginsberg , Peter Orlovsky , Gary Snyder, Gregory Corso , and Robert Creeley , in addition to people who would become notable in other fields, such as radical feminist Andrea Dworkin , and civil rights lawyer Harvey Silverglate (who would become Dorfman's husband). She also photographed staples of

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638-582: The name of the International Polaroid Collection. In 1990 the two collections were merged. The Polaroid Collection grew to include works by Dorothea Lange , Margaret Bourke-White , Edward Weston , Imogen Cunningham , William Garnett and Adams himself. Following the second bankruptcy of the Polaroid Corporation in 2008, 1200 of the 16,000 photographs in the American-held portion of the collection were sold at auction in 2010 by order of

667-519: The photos in the European sale were 20x24 inch Polaroids that had been produced under Land's Artists Support Program. 20%C3%9724 Studio The Polaroid 20×24 camera is a very large instant camera made by Polaroid , with film plates that measure a nominal 20 by 24 inches (51 cm × 61 cm), giving the camera its name, although at least one camera takes pictures that are 23 by 36 inches (58 cm × 91 cm). The Polaroid 20×24

696-470: The remaining stock was left, although The Impossible Project stated they were exploring how to restart film production. 20×24 Studio, which was founded by Reuter to lease the cameras and sell the required supplies, announced they had restarted production of the chemicals in 2010. However, 20×24 Studio later announced in 2016 that support would be discontinued at the end of 2017; at the time, it cost US$ 1,750 (equivalent to $ 2,220 in 2023) per day to rent

725-581: The world. In 1963, she began working for the Educational Development Corporation whose photographer, George Cope, introduced her to photography in June 1965. She made her first sale two months later, in August 1965, for $ 25 of a photograph of Charles Olson which was used on the cover of his book The Human Universe . Due to economic limitations, she did not buy her own camera until 1967, when she sent

754-554: Was a housewife. Her family was of Jewish descent. She studied at Tufts University , where she majored in French literature. During her junior year, she went on exchange to Europe, where she worked in Brussels for Expo 58 and lived in Paris , living in the same student accommodation as Susan Sontag . Dorfman graduated in 1959 and subsequently moved to New York City , where she was employed as

783-506: Was an American portrait photographer. She worked in Cambridge , Massachusetts , and was known for her use of a large-format instant Polaroid camera. Dorfman was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts , on April 26, 1937, and was raised in Roxbury and Newton . She was the eldest of three daughters of Arthur and Elaine (Kovitz). Her father worked at a grocery chain as a produce buyer; her mother

812-438: Was built by the company's wood and metalworking studios under the supervision of John McCann, at the request of Dr. Edwin Land , who wanted to demonstrate the quality of Polacolor II film, which the company was about to launch in 8×10 format. The first portraits were taken at the 1976 Polaroid shareholder's meeting. The 20×24 Studio was spun off from Polaroid in 1980, with Reuter assuming technical and artistic lead duties, and

841-419: Was fitted with a Fujinon-A 600 mm f / 11 lens) is often stopped down to f / 90. Lenses were available in a variety of focal lengths ranging from 135 mm to 1200 mm, but only the 600 mm, 800 mm, and 1200 mm lenses were designed for the 20×24 format. The 20×24 is collapsible for storage and transport like a field camera : the bellows are compressed into the body, and the body lowers into its base. In use,

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