_The Polaroid Party // Grant Hamilton

I was born in 1969. At the University of Illinois I earned a Bachelor's Degree of Fine Arts in Industrial Design. Afterwards, I worked as an Industrial Designer in Chicago but enjoyed being a design student much more than being a design professional. I bought my first Polaroid camera in 2006. before that, I had been shooting abstract, geometric and minimalist photos with a digital camera. Although I felt like I was onto something, those images seemed sterile and lacked soul. I was introduced to Polaroid images through the internet and thought that the imperfections and characteristic colors perfectly suited the types of subjects I was interested in.

Statement:

Through my photos, I strive to find beauty in the mundane. It is hard to describe to passers-by why, exactly, I am photographing the side of a bus or standing on a ladder on the side of a road, trying to reach a sign. As a result, I have many conversations like this:

A nice lady with an umbrella: Why are you taking a picture of a sign?
Me: Well, umm, I take these pictures of stripes and things...
Nice lady: Why?
Me: I scan them and put them on a website. Lots of people seem to like them.
Nice lady: They do?
Most of the time, however, people will see the beauty that I am seeing and will smile. Often they will remark that they never noticed that before.

I never use a tripod. Instead, I will use body positioning and breathing techniques to ensure a sharp, properly aligned image. Sometimes this requires several minutes of preparation for just one exposure. I also do not manipulate my subjects before photographing them nor do I alter the images after they are scanned. Cartier-Bresson may have been in search of the decisive moment but I am looking for the decisive focus. When composing an image, I try to include only what is necessary and edit out everything else.

- Grant Hamilton