©Sheri Lynn Behr, My current six Polaroids. The top three have no film available. 1. Polaroid Swinger, 2. Polaroid i-Zone, 3. Polaroid Spectra Bottom three are 4. Polaroid SX-70 ( SX-70 film) 5. Polaroid Impulse (600 film) 6. Polaroid Lab printer (i-Type film and 600 film)

Polaroid photography, with its distinctive immediacy and nostalgic charm, has long captivated artists seeking to push the boundaries of image-making. This week we spotlight five innovative Polaroid artists whose diverse practices explore the full spectrum of the medium’s creative possibilities—from experimental manipulations and emulsion lifts to hand-altered prints and conceptual storytelling. Each brings a unique vision to the format, demonstrating that the instant photo is a dynamic and thriving alternative.

Of the five Polaroid artists that will be featured on Lenscratch this week, Sheri Lynn Behr has the distinction of being one of the first to pick up and run with a Polaroid camera to create a fascinating array of images using a variety of the tools that Polaroid produced over the years.  Both during Polaroid’s heyday in the 1970’s up until the latest revival of instant photography with the Impossible Project and the resurrection of the Polaroid brand, Sheri has rarely wavered in her infatuation with the medium.  The evolution of her work has included strictly analog creations and the gradual integration of analog and digital elements in her Polaroid experiments.  Once one succumbs to the allure of the Polaroid, it tends to unleash a destructive bent that allows you to cut them up, drown them in liquid soups, lift their emulsions in various contorted positions, digitize them after the fact, all in the pursuit of a unique and sublime creativity.  Sheri’s work demonstrates much of this with vigor and finesse.

©Sheri Lynn Behr, OH|HO, Four unique interrelated SX-70 photographs, New Directions / New Dimensions 1983

In her words:

“My very first camera was a Polaroid Swinger, so I have a long history with Polaroid cameras and film. I used the Swinger to make black and white portraits of my teenage friends. But Polaroid soon discontinued the film, and I moved on to 35 mm cameras, photography classes, and shooting rock and roll.

Later on, I borrowed an SX-70 — and I was hooked. New Directions / New Dimensions was my first solo exhibition; it consisted of interrelated images made with cut paper that created hard-edge color abstractions. Sometimes I even used my music photos and cut them up, too.

While I had stopped shooting live concerts, it seems I still wanted to photograph musicians, so I used the SX-70 to appropriate images from music videos. I became intrigued with the way Polaroids and a TV screen could alter photographic reality. I had seen Lucas Samaras’ work and his Polaroid manipulations showed me that you could totally change what a picture could be. I used tools to manipulate the dyes and sometimes added marker or paint. Beyond Recognition is probably my best-known Polaroid series, and several images were included in the Polaroid Collection, as well as the recent book and touring exhibition, The Polaroid Project.

©Sheri Lynn Behr, Rod, Unique manipulated SX-70 photograph, Beyond Recognition, 1989

Then I started looking for new ways to manipulate an image, and I made my first computer-enhanced Polaroid in 1989. I imported a Polaroid slide into a computer, and after drawing on it with software, the new version was output on Polaroid Spectra film. I took classes, taught myself Photoshop, and got a computer of my own. I imported the Spectra photograph, and other Polaroids, into my computer and created new versions of them. I made digital prints, slides, Cibachromes, Type 669 Polaroids, and even incorporated images in mixed-media work on canvas. Size and color all differed, and they all evoked different responses from the viewer.

©Sheri Lynn Behr, Primitive Guitar, Unique manipulated SX-70 photograph, Beyond Recognition, 1988

I continued to create more work using other Polaroid films and cameras, including a Polaroid i-Zone camera, which used instant film about the size of a 35mm negative. For my exhibition I Am Not Where I Am Now, I used it to create source images, usually of an element in the landscape. Because it was so small, this Polaroid film had a quality that enhanced the transitory feelings of memory, and I used a computer to alter size and color. The final prints were made with archival paper and inks, and two were acquired by the Polaroid Collection as well.

©Sheri Lynn Behr, Over/Under, Unique manipulated SX-70 photograph, Beyond Recognition, 1989, Polaroid Collection

Then the Polaroid Corporation went out of business and film was no longer available. I skipped the Impossible Project, but recently started experimenting with the newest Polaroid films. I’m curious to see where they take me. I’m even cutting up photographs again.”

©Sheri Lynn Behr, Untitled (RS), Three unique interrelated manipulated SX-70 photographs, connected by jump rings, Beyond Recognition,1989

Sheri Lynn Behr is a photographer and visual artist with an interest in technology, photography without permission, and the ever-present electronic screens through which we view the world.  Her work shifts between traditional, documentary-style photographs and highly manipulated, digitally-enhanced images.

Behr studied photography and digital imaging in New York City and began her career photographing musicians. Her rock and roll photographs were featured in music publications of the time, and are now collected, exhibited, and licensed for publication.

After several years working in the music business, Behr decided to concentrate on personal work. Her photography projects have explored Polaroid manipulations, New York City’s Chinatown, the iconic Lucky Cat, and several series on surveillance and privacy.

Behr’s work has been exhibited extensively; venues include the Griffin Museum of Photography, the Amon Carter Museum of Art, MIT Museum, Center for Creative Photography, Soho Photo, and SRO Gallery at Texas Tech. Her photographs have appeared in publications worldwide and online, and she has received a Fellowship in Photography from the New Jersey State Council of the Arts, a grant from the Puffin Foundation, and a New York City Artist Corps Grant. She is currently based in Los Angeles.

Instagram: @slbehr

©Sheri Lynn Behr, Headshot and Over/Under at the MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA, on exhibit as part of The Polaroid Project, 2019

©Sheri Lynn Behr, Glitterman, computer-enhanced image from a Polaroid slide, unique Polaroid Spectra photograph, 1989

©Sheri Lynn Behr, Glitterman: Stripes, computer-enhanced photograph, 1994

©Sheri Lynn Behr, Six computer-enhanced versions of Glitterman

©Sheri Lynn Behr, The Getty, digital print from a Polaroid i-Zone photograph, from I Am Not Where I Am Now, 2001

©Sheri Lynn Behr, LA Norms digital print from a Polaroid i-Zone photograph, from I Am Not Where I Am Now, 2003

©Sheri Lynn Behr, Arizona Cactus x 3, digital print from three versions of a Polaroid i- Zone photograph, from I Am Not Where I Am Now, 2002

©Sheri Lynn Behr, Untitled (GM), unique Polaroid 600 Round Frame photograph, 2024

©Sheri Lynn Behr, Untitled, digital print of Polaroid SX-70 photograph with cut-up print of surveillance camera photo, 2025