Leo Kandl: Polaroids

In 1978, equipped with a Polaroid-camera, Leo Kandl visited night cafés, wine-houses, run-down pubs as well as railway stations. There he met a multitude of social outsiders such as suburban drifters, leftovers, harddrinking revellers, people who wanted to escape their loneliness, foreign workers, ex-prisoners, night owls and people without shelter. He approached people he didn’t know and most of them made themselves available for 2 Polaroid shots. One photo for Kandl, usually with the name or dedication of the person photographed, and the second for the other person, often with a signature by Leo Kandl. The result is an impressive and touching panorama of momentary glimpses and excerpted episodes that trace Kandl’s nocturnal forays through a world of outsiders. A world that no longer exists.