the portrait machine project book by carlo van de roer

‘the portrait machine project book’ by carlo van der roer all images courtesy of carlo van der roer miranda july

new-york based artist carlo van de roer has developed ‘the portrait machine project book‘ a collection of polaroids with aura backgrounds. the concept derives from the idea that a camera could offer insight into the subject’s character, especially if it is of someone you know. the relationship between the device, photographer, subject and viewer is explored.

the polaroid aura camera was invented in an attempt to record what a psychic might see. using familiar people, van de roer wanted to make the tension, or harmony, between the portraits and the subjects accessible to you the viewer. the object is built around an instant land that gets attached directly to the person by sensors which reads their biofeedback, which is then converted into information about the them and is depicted as color in the polaroid. it also generates a printed diagram and description which includes information about their character and how they are seen by others.

yoko okutsu

aurel schmidt

james frey

taika waititi

martynka wawrzyniak

terence koh

waris ahluwalia

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions’  feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.