Jim Butler

Polaroids Jim Butler

POLAROIDS is a collection of story/snapshots from a life-long scrapbook: quick images of passing moments in the life of Jackie Barron--hapless lover, hopeless drinker, publicist, pub-crawler, defender of the English language, defendant in the court of life. In 1965 the black & white Polaroid Swinger captured moments available to no one but the photographer and the subject, creating a whole new world of bedroom photography. No hair-and-makeup artists, lighting crew, scenic designer and wardrobe department. Sometimes no wardrobe. "Bedroom photography" is an apt metaphor for POLAROIDS. This brilliant collection captures Jackie Barron's memories in a succession of startling flashes. Butler says, "If someone reads one of these stories and says, 'Did you really do that?' the answer is almost certainly no. Not exactly. Unless maybe the story concerns some thoroughly humiliating experience; there's a pretty good chance I may have done that one." His stories are a life's truths, imagined.