Visual Artist Frank Lopez is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this photo essay. From the project ‘The Instant of Being Here and Now’. To see Frank ’s body of work, click on any image.

Walking Tour of Liberty Island
Unique Polaroid Photocollage © 2019.
10.5 x 24.5 inches

NYC Central Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Bld., March 2019Unique Polaroid Photocollage © 2019. 10.5 x 13 inches — NYC Central Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Bld., March 2019
Unique Polaroid Photocollage © 2019.
10.5 x 13 inches

Skyliner Ride, State Fair of Texas
Unique Polaroid Photocollage © 2019.
10.5 x 16.25 inches

Gesture and body language has changed in relation to street photography and human experience. Where before, experiences were meant to be shared with direct interaction to the experience, now, there is the insatiable need to “capture” the perfect image with the self in mind. Whereas places of interest are intentionally created to lend this practice a space, too often times the public at large is neglecting the experience over the capture in photographic form. Body expression comes in three forms: hunched over a phone, extended arms to “take a selfie” or finally, record the space presented in still and moving form. A generation (and generations yet to come) record versus experience moments – “being in the moment” takes on a different tone when the option and desire to post the perfect experience supersedes breathing in the moment.

Tomb of Marie Laveau, Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans, LA
Unique Polaroid Photocollage © 2017.
10.5 x 14 inches

Rockefeller Plaza, NYC, March 23, 2017
Unique Polaroid Photocollage © 2017
10.5 x 10.5 inches

St. Roch Chapel, New Orleans, LA
Unique Polaroid Photocollage © 2019.
10.5 x 14 inches

Vessel, Hudson Yards, NYC
Unique Polaroid Photocollage © 2022.
10.5 x 10.5 inches

The use of instant film is deliberate in how this project is presented. Instant gratification, as the film was once known for, is utilized to mimic the very thing that it has given rise to – the instagramification of life. Individual images are manipulated with digital techniques (Photoshop, Nik Software) and interpreted as analog images with a Polaroid Lab and Polaroid instant film.