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John Reuter, Director of Polaroid’s 20x24 Studio
All images © John Reuter

"Flower Girl," digital collage

Utilizing alternative processes and many of Polaroid’s techniques to create his images, John Reuter is truly a talented fine-art photographer who’s not afraid to experiment. “For my whole career, I’ve been open to cross-fertilization of mediums,” observes Reuter. He’s also been exposed to the Polaroid name since childhood. “My father used Polaroid cameras when I was growing up, and I have never gotten over the magic of the instant image,” he says. After high school, Reuter bought a Pentax, and attended college in upstate New York at SUNY Geneseo. Here, he began working on the school yearbook and changed his major from sociology to art. He studied with photographer Michael Teres and painter and art historian Rosemary Teres, who both inspired his early fine-art images.  “My earliest work was with black-and-white photography and alternative processes,” he states. He continued this experimental work as a graduate student at the University of Iowa, and began doing Polaroid SX-70 collages.

"Carmel River Beach," Holga camera print

After graduating from college, Polaroid Corporation hired Reuter in 1978 as a research photographer. Eventually he became the primary photographer and director of the 20x24 Studio in New York. In this position (he’s been an independent contractor for the past year and a half), he manages the program worldwide, including the New York Studio, monitors the film supply, and works with customers who use this amazing large-format camera. It has also given him the opportunity to collaborate with photographers such as William Wegman, Joyce Tenneson, David Levinthal, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and others who have created 20x24-inch images. Because of his work at Polaroid, Reuter’s SX-70 collages evolved into painted image transfers in larger formats. In 1980, he began experimenting with Polacolor Image Transfers, a technique he initially learned from Rosie Purcell, a Boston-based photographer. He first worked in an 8x10 format, but eventually utilized the Polaroid 20x24 camera. “I worked not only with singular 20x24 transfers, but also created larger scale images of 4, 6, and even 9-panel images, ranging up to 5x6 feet in scale,” he says.

"Highlights," digital collage

Media & Equipment Evolution
In 1993, Reuter began to use the computer to create his collages. And in 1997, he found that the images he was creating in Photoshop had too many subtle details to be rendered as Image Transfers. “I began printing out the digital images as Iris prints,” he explains, “and these prints perfectly realized my vision. I also used a Polaroid Dry Jet printer, which was quite unique in that it utilized pigment in wax to create the image on paper.” Since 2000,

"Los Luceros," Holga camera print

Reuter has worked with Epson printers to create his prints, beginning with the medium-format 1200 to the large-format 10000 and 9600 printers.  “My preferred media are watercolor paper and canvas,” he points out. “I still prefer a more painterly look after all these years.” Some of his images are printed on canvas up to 40x50 inches.

Reuter took a technological step back when he began using a Holga camera with a Polaroid back. He used Polapan 85 film with this camera, “a positive/negative film which scans beautifully,” he says. “It was the first completely photographic work I had done in 30 years.” However, this film has recently been discontinued. “I’ve had a nice run with Holga, and it was a refreshing way to look at photography,” he comments. Today, he shoots digitally with a Canon EOS 20D. “I was a film-holdout for quite a while,” Reuter states, adding that prior to this, he often used a Hasselblad 500C. “Two years ago at Fotofusion, I realized that I was one of the last people giving film-based workshops.” Nonetheless, he still enjoys creating collages and combining images from multiple sources. He uses Photoshop to seamlessly combine images, he says.

"Ladies of the Field," digital collage

Helping Others
In addition to making his own creative images and his work with Polaroid, teaching has become an important part of Reuter’s career. He has taught classes and workshops in Polaroid Image Transfer and Emulsion Lift, Photoshop, Digital Collage, Polaroid Creativity: Analog Input/Digital Output, and Web Design for photographers. Reuter designs and maintains his own Website, www.johnreuter.com, and says, “In teaching web design, I try to help people avoid making the same mistakes I did.” Reuter’s Website features

"Bryant Park," Holga camera print

portfolios of his work, his “Collaborations and Investigations” in the 20x24 studio, and lists his upcoming workshops. He teaches at Palm Beach Photographic Centre four times a year, ICP (International Center for Photography), Santa Fe Workshops, and the School of Visual Arts. “I would love to end up teaching full-time on the college level,” Reuter adds.

For now, Reuter enjoys his contract position with Polaroid, and continues to collaborate with notable photographers. In late January 2006, Reuter, assistant Jennifer Trausch, and legendary sports photographer Walter Iooss attended the 40th anniversary of the Superbowl, where they photographed many of the MVPs. “It’s been great working with all of these creative people in the 20x24 studio all these years,” he concludes.

For more information on Polaroid, visit http://www.polaroid.com.
 

 
 

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