Magnus Bischofberger 1984

Andy Warhol made this photograph of Magnus Bischofberger with a Polaroid camera. You know, the kind that spits out a physical print right after you take the picture – instant art! Warhol loved Polaroids because they were quick and a bit unpredictable. There’s a casualness to this portrait, a sort of snapshot aesthetic which brings a democratic element to his art. Look at the colors, they’re slightly faded, kind of muted and the focus isn’t super sharp, more like a memory than a perfect representation. Notice the texture of the print itself, it's got this slightly glossy, almost waxy feel, that’s so characteristic of Polaroids. If you compare this to Chuck Close’s portraits, there's a similar interest in the face, but where Close goes for hyper-realism, Warhol embraces the imperfections. It's like he’s saying, "Hey, life isn’t perfect, and art doesn’t have to be either." It’s this embrace of the everyday that makes Warhol so endlessly fascinating.