Wim Wenders’ dreamy Polaroid collection is coming to London
- Text by Dominique Sisley
A new exhibition on Wim Wenders – the cult director behind Paris, Texas, Wings of Desire and Alice In The Cities – is coming to London’s Photographers Gallery this October.
The show, titled Instant Stories, will focus on the filmmaker’s previously unseen Polaroid work – with over 200 of his personal photographs set to go on display. According to the gallery, this will include candid shots of cast and crew, friends and family, still-lives, street-photography and landscapes. All of the images selected were taken between the early 1970s and mid ’80s.
Over his 50-year career, Wenders has become just as famed for his photography as his filmmaking, with the director using the medium as a way of testing out frames and ideas. He ended up taking thousands – using them as a visual diary to document his travels throughout Europe and the US.
Wim Wenders Sydney, 1984 © Wim Wenders. Courtesy of the artist
Speaking about his love of Polaroids in an accompanying book for the exhibition, Wenders says: “The entire Polaroid process (and procedure) has nothing to do with our contemporary experience, when we look at virtual and vanishing apparitions on a screen that we can delete or swipe to the next one. Then, you produced and owned ‘an original’!”
“This was a true THING, a singular object of its own, not a copy, not a print, not multipliable, not repeatable. You couldn’t help feeling that you had stolen this image-object from the world. You had transferred a piece of the past into the present.”
Instant Stories: Wim Wenders’ Polaroids will run at London’s Photographer’s Gallery from October 20th to February 11th 2018.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
You might like
In photos: Black Texas life since emancipation
Kinship & Community — A new photobook and exhibition showcases the rich culture, history and community of African American folks in the Lone Star State, whose existence in the region predates colonial Britain.
Written by: Miss Rosen
London’s largest indoor skatepark to be demolished for padel courts
Better Extreme — The Barking skatepark’s fate follows that of similar indoor spaces in recent years, with operators GLL citing falling visitor numbers as the reason behind the decision.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Youthful joy & end-of-era poignancy at a London school prom
Leavers — For several years, Lewis Khan documented young people as they celebrated the last of their school days and the completion of their exams. The series is now collated in a new self-published photobook and short film.
Written by: Zoe Whitfield
Harry Gruyaert’s vintage, kaleidoscopic scenes of New York
A Sense of Place — For 50 years, the Belgian photographer and Magnum Photos member has been capturing NYC’s colourful chaos. A new photobook and exhibition showcase his unique, technicolour view of the city.
Written by: Miss Rosen
In the pit at one of the UK’s last stock car & banger speedways
Stock Car Racing Isn’t Dead — Photographer Liam McCarthy spent time in and around the Arlington Raceway’s circuit, capturing the diehard community that keeps the sport alive.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Inside Lower Duck Pond, the nicest town on the internet
/r/HaveWeMet — With a population of 2,500 and no fixed location, the subreddit is a space for roleplaying citizens to solve mysteries, host fictional events and ultimately connect. In an internet that’s often divided and toxic, Vicky Jessop hangs out in one of its most wholesome corners.
Written by: Vicky Jessop
