Friday Flickr Feature - Patrick Winfield
Patrick Winfield creates wonderful compositions using only Polaroids. His work is beautiful, encompassing and getting noticed (he is featured in Juxtapoz Magazine’s Photo Issue).
Can you tell me about the process behind your composites (do you just begin shooting or do you have a detailed outline behind them)?
Some of the pieces are very planned out. I start with one photo and then either sketch it out or get right into shooting with an idea in my head. Most of them are created with a call and response method, much like painting or drawing. I see a line and decide to continue with it or go in another direction.
Are their stories behind each composite?
Very much so. These stories can be mine or the viewers, but when representational images are used a great portion of the time a narrative is formed. This is partly the reason I recently began working more with non-representational forms and creating a new language in abstraction. I name these works Freestyle and number them - this destroys any narrative and preconceived ideas any viewer may have when reading a works name.
Can you tell me about your appropriation series?
They were a challenge to create. I had myself use two known pieces of art, hence appropriation, and create a new image based from them. I wanted them to look new and fresh without alluding too much to the original source. Many of them worked off of humor by juxtaposing unlike paintings or artists. I no longer make them, the film is pretty much gone for Spectras and I am focusing on other work.
Which make of Polaroid camera is your very favourite to shoot with?
Hands down the SX-70.
Do you only shoot in Polaroid? Why/Why not?
Lately I have been shooting with some 35mm and various toy cameras. I only really shoot digital to photograph my work.
How do you feel about the ‘death of Polaroid’?
Hurts, hurts bad. Really I am not suprised, but of course it is terrible for artists and people like me that use so much of it and have a specific language based on the medium. It will be interesting and
exciting to see where my work, in reaction to the demise of the film, takes me next.
How do you feel about Flickr? Do you believe that there is a certain point in an artist’s career when they should stop using Flickr for fear of it seeming unprofessional?
Thats a great question and I know I have thought of that. Flickr is a huge place, I get lost in there sometimes clicking around. It has that feeling of being too big. I have seen so much amazing work inside there, so much talent. I don’t think an artist should have to feel like they have to stop using it simply because it seems unprofessional. I know some artists whos Flickr pages have more traffic than there own sites. It should be used as a tool and leveraged as such. I use it in addition to my website and if I drive only a few people a month to my site from my images on Flickr then I consider it succesful. If a gallery or potential job feels I am unprofessional because of this, than maybe that isn’t the kind of person I want to work with? I post a lot of images that aren’t on my site, like off the cuff snaps and singles in addition to some composites. I also post on a Polaroid site
called polanoid.net, the mecca for all things Polaroid 
You can see more of Patrick’s work on his official site or on his Flickr page.
Every Friday internet jogging features an artist, series or something special Chelsee finds while scouring the white, pink and blue treasure trove. We call this the Friday Flickr Feature.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Nice work, nice article, and nice site. (I came here hunting for Fluid-related stuff).
[Reply]