Polaroid People
Before I die I want to go to New York. Before I die I want to buy my own home. Before I die I want to learn to dance.
Before I die I want to go to New York.” “Before I die I want to buy my own home.” “Before I die I want to learn to dance.” “Before I die I want to be a millionaire.” “Before I die I want to cook.” “Next birth,I want to be born as a man,not a woman.” These are the wishes scribbled by people from all over India below their Polaroid mug shots. This is part of a project that has spanned two countries,India and the US,by two young American artists,Nicole Kenney and KS Rives.
In early 2008,when Polaroid announced that it would discontinue the production of its iconic instant film,the duo decided to talk about mortality on the “dying” medium and turn it into a quirky cultural study. Kenney,armed with her grandfather’s SX-70 Polaroid camera,and Rives,with her Spectra Polaroid,took pictures of people,and asked that eyebrow-raising question,“What do you want to do before you die?”
After taking around 600 photos in the US,Rives and Kenney came to India. From January to March 2009,they travelled to Delhi,Ahmedabad,Udaipur,Mumbai,Goa,Kerala,Punjab,Varanasi and McLeodganj. “Literally halfway around the world from our home,India gave our project a much larger context,” says Kenney,a 29-year-old from Brooklyn,who studied fine arts and creates autobiographical artwork. “Americans were generally more sceptical,while Indians were willing to talk to us and have their photographs taken.” In India,Kenney and Rives met around 300 people — housewives,the blue-collar brigade,rickshawpullers,beggars and businessmen,among others. On their site,you will even find a picture of a bride,who strangely seems quite happy at being asked the morbid question on her wedding day. Under the picture,which shows her in a white gown in front of a church in Goa,the line goes,“Before I die I want to do something for my family.”
The answers showed some fascinating patterns. “A lot of children in India want to study. A lot of men want their businesses to grow or own a shop one day. In America,people want to travel internationally; a lot of women want to have babies. Also,Americans want to be more individualistic in their answers,whereas in India people don’t mind giving the same answer as the person who went before them,” says Kenney.
Rives,30,who studied at Columbia Art School in Chicago and has shows across the US,says,“Mumbai’s Muslims often said they wanted to chant God’s name before they died. Many Indians want to help others,while Americans want to travel and earn money. Many Americans said they want to live.” Everyone who is asked the question is made to write their answers below their Polaroid shot the camera spits out. The photographs are put up on beforeidieiwant to.org,that is updated regularly with new portraits. The subjects are also asked to sign a form in which they give their permission to put their photos on the Web and even in a book. “On the same form,we gather their contact information so we can get in touch with them in the future to check on their progress in accomplishing what they want to do before they die,” says Kenney.
While the duo always had a translator to help them,the project did get lost in translation at times. “One man was suspicious of us and asked us if were trying to show the rest of the world how poor India was. I think he was sensitive to how his country was being portrayed. We did our best to get a wide range of people on our travels,” says Kenney.
So far “Before I Die…” has been part of two exhibitions in the US — “Instant Gratification” in Los Angeles and “Moving Vehicles” in Mobile,Alabama. They are also self-publishing their work at blurb.com,while the search for a sponsor is on. “We hope to publish a book,” says Kenney.
So what do you want to do before you die?
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