Brigid Berlin: Polaroids

Brigid Berlin (born 1939) was one of the most prominent and colorful members of Andy Warhol’s Factory in the 1960s and 1970s. Her legendary personal collection of Polaroids is collected here for the first time and constitutes an intimate, beautiful, artistic, outrageous insight into this iconic period. This wild photographic odyssey featured a foreword by cult filmmaker John Waters, who writes, “Brigid was always my favorite underground movie star; big, often naked, and ornery as hell ... The Polaroids here show just how wide Brigid’s world was; her access was amazing. She was never a groupie, always an insider.” Berlin knew everyone and her lens captured them all: celebrities, Superstars, artists, herself and, of course, Warhol. As Waters observes, through her snaps, “Andy was uncovered and revealed like never before.” The book also features an introduction by Bob Colacello, editor of Warhol’s Interview magazine and features writer for Vanity Fair, who notes: “In recording life, she captured our times. By myopically depicting her own transgressions and self- indulgences, she has prophetically reflected the narcissism and exhibitionism, the craving for fame and confusing of fame and infamy that have become the staples of American popular culture.” In discussing her style, he reflects, “This is the opposite of fashion photography or studio portraiture. Brigid was a realist. What she saw is what you got.”