Jasper Johns 1972

This is a Polaroid of Jasper Johns, probably snapped by Andy Warhol sometime in the 70s or 80s. The colours are so immediate, so saturated! You see these instant images, and they have this way of collapsing time, don’t they? The image is tightly cropped, focusing on Johns's face in profile, his dark glasses, the crisp white shirt, and black bow tie. The glossy sheen of the Polaroid gives the image a kind of celebrity sheen, doesn't it? But at the same time, it's a candid shot, more intimate than the usual portrait. Look at the way the light catches the edge of Johns’s glasses, reflecting in his eyes. It’s such a tiny detail, but it brings the whole image to life. Warhol had a knack for finding the extraordinary in the everyday, the iconic in the mundane, a talent he shares with Johns. Together they really changed the game, didn't they? And in the end, art is about opening up possibilities, not closing them down.