It is misshapen, stained, damaged, and dog-eared. It is the opposite of a well-polished, carefully developed photograph. The subject’s face is nearly unrecognizable. Her mouth is parted to form a smile broken by a blotch. This is a photog...

On the occasion of the exhibition Sigmar Polke’s Photographic Infamies at the BAL in Paris, Blind unpacks an emblematic image by this prolific artist.
It is misshapen, stained, damaged, and dog-eared. It is the opposite of a well-polished, carefully developed photograph. The subject’s face is nearly unrecognizable. Her mouth is parted to form a smile broken by a blotch. This is a photog...

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