This was far from my favourite exhibition (and I left with a splitting headache), however Wim Wenders’ exhibition was definitely unique; with each print being shot on polaroid.
‘Instant Stories’ is the first time the filmmaker has opened up his personal collection of Polaroid images, shot both on and off set, acting as his visual notebook to test out ideas he could use in films.
I had come across Wim before without realising it after having watched Salt of the Earth, a documentary movie about Sebastiao Salgado, his photography, and his ‘Instituto Terra’ project. From what I can recall, this work in this exhibition doesn’t seem anything like the style that Salt of the Earth was shot in.
Away from the exhibition, there was an extensive bookshop selling many different photobooks, as well as rolls of film and analogue cameras. A book I came across was one I had heard about and studied briefly before at college, but never actually seen in person.
‘Oil’ (2003 | Edward Burtynsky) is part of a series of books documenting the manufactured landscape, with this one showcasing humanity’s obsession with oil; more so its lifecycle from extraction, production, use, and aftermath. I really like the way he mixes double page spreads with single images to give imaged with a an even bigger sense of scale to images which already do show it.
Ryan Trower 