‘‘I felt a visceral connection to the glowing light and sublime, intense colour emanating from these spontaneous images.’’
—Amanda Means
Amanda Means (American, b.1945) has focused on light throughout her oeuvre, beginning in the 1960s, experimenting with camera-less techniques and negative exposures. In her ongoing colour Light Bulb series, these modest household items are ‘transformed from their mass-produced origins to photographic objects of limitless potential and lavish beauty.’ Created using a rare 20x24 Polaroid camera – one of only five built by Polaroid in the late 1970s – the work offered here is a mesmerising, full-frame portrait of a light bulb, its filament shining a mysterious light within a double halo of vibrant magenta to violet. ‘I loved making exposures with the mammoth camera,’ explains Means, ‘peeling back the negative of each large print to instantly reveal these sensual, energy-filled, glimmering globes.’
The New York-based artist has exhibited internationally and her work resides in numerous public institutions, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, SFMOMA and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Means was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2017 for her ongoing contributions to the medium of photography.
Amanda Means positioning the light bulb between a cold light source and the 20x24 Polaroid camera. Courtesy of the artist.
2007 Unique colour Polaroid print, mounted. Sheet: 78.7 x 55.6 cm (31 x 21 7/8 in.) Frame: 86 x 63 cm (33 7/8 x 24 3/4 in.) Signed, titled, dated and annotated 'unique' in ink on an artist label on the reverse of the mount.