peter ment
i found this polaroid this week cleaning my journal table.
the polaroid is a picture of peter ment. peter died in the summer of 2004. he was a friend of friends and he helped me on a few shoots. i didn’t know him that well, but i always enjoyed his company, he reminded me that it should all be fun when i got stressed out on some silly shoot by simply laughing at me, in a good way, at least i thought so. i wish i could remember what this shot is from, but at the moment as i write this, i cannot remember. i can remember almost every frame i ever took of anything, how i lit it, where it was, who it was, but this one is escaping me. there’s a chance i set it up and never shot it, i do this often. either way, i am glad i found this one polaroid.
the polaroid is the modern day equivalent to the deguerrotype. this object is a picture, a one of a kind, a tangible, touchable one of a kind that was once in the same room, place and moment at the same time as the photographer, and more importantly, the subject. present in its physicality at the time of its creation by its very nature.
i remember sitting right here at my computer when my friend sitting on my couch got a phone call, i knew after hearing just a bit of the conversation, it was bad news, but not what it was or who it was about till he was off the phone. it all felt so unreal and took a long time to sink in.
i went to his eulogy. it was given by stéphane sednaoui who knew peter pretty well, it was beautiful.