CULTURE WATCH

Fashion photographer Diego Uchitel has long revered the Polaroid for its dreamlike color and depth, and over the course of his 25-year career, he has continually sought to conjure these qualities in his fashion and celebrity photography. Uchitel used Polaroid film from 1982 to 2006, until the digital camera became an unavoidable replacement.

This volume from Damiani is his loving homage to the medium that helped define his style. In a recent New York Times interview, Uchitel noted that “It’s just a Polaroid, you don’t care so much. You capture a moment and it’s more spontaneous, more like a snap.” Diego Uchitel: Polaroids includes a selection of his favorite images, both commercial and personal, of models, fashion designers and celebrities such as Jessica Alba, Gabriel Byrne, Sofia Coppola, Diane von Furstenberg, Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler, Jack McCollough, Julianne Moore and Sting, as well as landscape photographs.

Polaroids is filled with more than 240 never-before-published images reproduced in their original—and current—condition, with traces of tape and signs of wear and tear around their edges. The result is a visual catalog of dream-like images that reflect the tonal warmth and artistic eye of the photographer. “Spontaneous by nature and distinct in palette, the Polaroid medium has arguably had the single largest influence on my career and to be able to capture that impassioned relationship in this book has been a lifelong dream,” said Uchitel.

Uchitel’s photographs have been featured in Elle, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, German and Spanish Vogue, Vogue Hommes, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, D, Surface, Premiere, Citizen K and Rolling Stone. His advertising clients include Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Victoria’s Secret, Diane von Furstenberg, Anthropologie, Graff, Avon, Neiman Marcus, Olay, Warner Brothers, Nike, Levi’s and Microsoft.

He also photographed “Destination Fashion” for the Spring 2010 issue of Bal Harbour Magazine.Get your behind the scenes look at the shoot here.