Hidden Persuaders

In 1980, Edwin Land offered me the use of the experimental Polaroid 20 x 24 camera and studio. As a street (versus studio) photographer I was initially uncertain of what to do with this remarkable camera. But eventually, I found another way to satisfy my long-held desire to abstract the real world without resorting to manipulation. In this case, my only subject was a single sheet of the New York Times Sunday Magazine, and my technique was simply to add light to a single camera exposure. With back-lit strobe lights, both sides of the newsprint appear in equal register, thus merging images from both sides of the page.

I called this series Hidden Persuaders, referring to the subliminal messages included in advertising, especially as it uses (and often exploits) images of women.