Hello Friends,

I'm about to make my way, again, out to Black Rock City for Burning Man. This year is exciting, as the Temple is being built by an amazing crew right here in Austin. The Community Art Makers are going to show them how we do it in Texas, and I'm proud to be part of their crew. I'll be heading out to the playa early to help build the Temple which will burn on the last night of the event which also happens to be my birthday! Exciting. In addition to the Temple crew, I'll be doing my own project this year, and I need your help. First, let me tell you a little about my Polaroid Project.

This year’s theme is Evolution. I started thinking about all the photography I’ve been doing this year, mostly live music performances with my big, heavy, and fast digital camera. Yes, it’s true, I’ve finally (and oh so reluctantly) embraced the digital revolution, but there’s still something missing for me. I’ve been thinking back with nostalgic fondness on my high school and college photo days complete with alternative photo processes and long hours in a darkroom breathing in all those chemicals. So in the spirit of Evolution, I’m going back to the ‘good ole days’ and will be using a camera older than I am to create live Polaroid transfers in one of the most inhospitable environments on the planet. Although Polaroid transfers are relatively ‘old technology,’ there is still something about them that satisfies our society’s ever-growing demand for the instantaneous and immediate. And even though they are ‘instant,’ there is something still contemplative and meaningful about them as a process and as unique art objects.

I will be giving some of these transfers away as gifts to the citizens of BRC, but I will also keep some of them for my own collection which will be exhibited at Art Outside in October, and the collection will eventually be made into a limited edition book. I’ll also be mailing some of these as postcards so y’all can experience some of the magic of Burning Man from your own home!

If you’re not familiar with Polaroid transfers, google it and look at the images to see some of the most beautiful and evocative photographic images in the world. Transfers are made with peel-apart Polaroid film by transferring the negative’s emulsion to a piece of wet watercolor paper. This gives the photograph a beautiful aura, and it blurs the line between photography, painting, and printmaking. Each Polaroid transfer is a unique, one of a kind photographic image that cannot be reproduced. And it’s sad but true that Polaroid stopped producing film last year. It can still be found, for about $2 a shot, but it is soon to be completely extinct after existing inventories are depleted. I’m aiming to take at least 1000 shots out to the playa, and at $2 a shot, well, you can do the very simple math.

***This is where you come in! For every donation of $25 or more, you will personally receive one of my Polaroid transfers on 4”x6” archival watercolor paper, signed and dated, and then personally addressed and mailed to you as a postcard, complete with ramblings on the backside from yours truly. For donations of $100 or more, you will receive a series of 3 postcards plus an invitation to a special, private pre-view of the work at my studio in Austin, Texas, before it is available for public viewing. Donations of any amount get your name mentioned in the acknowledgments of my afterburn report blog and the limited edition book about the Polaroid Project (please specify if you prefer to remain anonymous).

You can make donations to the Polaroid Project on PayPal by simply clicking on the donate button at the end of this message. You can also mail checks to me personally; please contact me for the mailing address. Please include your current mailing address with all donations of $25 or more.

I hope you come back and visit my site every so often.  I continue to add a lot of content to the portfolio, and I'm trying to stay up to date on my blog.  I'm certain I'll have exciting stories to tell after the dust is washed off later next month.  I love hearing from y'all, so by all means, keep in touch!

I hope all is well in each of your worlds, and I hope to see y'all real soon.

Blessings,  Laura Lea