Mark Liebovitz 1976

Andy Warhol made this polaroid of Mark Liebovitz, but when exactly, who knows? The beauty of the polaroid is its immediacy, it's a process where time seems to collapse. Here, the colors are understated, almost faded, like a memory. The surface is smooth, glossy; typical of polaroids. It's interesting how Warhol, known for his screen prints, also embraced this medium. Look at the way the light catches Mark’s hair, the subtle shifts in tone, it’s pretty luscious. There’s a vulnerability in the gaze, a softness that contrasts with the almost harsh, snapshot quality of the image. This tension between the intimate and the impersonal feels very Warhol. Thinking about other artists working with photography at the time, someone like Robert Mapplethorpe comes to mind, but Warhol’s approach feels less studied, more spontaneous. It reminds us that art is not just about the finished product but about the conversations artists have with each other across time.