SANTA ANA, CA (ANS) -- In 1980, the British, modern rock group, Japan, released an album called, Gentlemen Take Polaroids. As a young teenager, I remember listening to that particular album over and over. The song, Gentlemen Take Polaroids, had lyrics that read:

“Breathe life into me
Spin me round
And I'll just sit and wonder why
Just a foreign town with a foreign mind
Why is everything so cut and dried?
The taste of country air you'll never know
Gentlemen take polaroids
They fall in love, they fall in love”

Brian and Melanie Nixon taking notice of the Warhol Exhibit Photo by Jeff Lefever

Around the same time I began listening to this album in 1984 (which was a little later than its release), I also discovered Andy Warhol.

I think my initial take to Warhol was through the magazine he founded, Interview. But then I began to investigate his movie exploits and art of the 1960’s. I also discovered that Warhol was behind the Velvet Underground’s (as manager and artist) classic album, Velvet Underground and Nico.

As my interest in Warhol increased, I uncovered two fascinating aspects of his life: one, he was a “religious” man (he never disowned his Catholic faith, making sure he went to Church often), and, two, he loved to take photographs (both Polaroid and traditional).

Since my first interest in Warhol, I have followed his legacy from a distance; reading a couple of biographies; attending art exhibits (the most recent at the San Diego Museum of Art; his Electric Chair series is still quite profound); and watched the increased sales of his Pop Art paintings skyrocket.

So when I heard the news that the Warhol Foundation has recently released over 28,000 photographs (many of them Polaroid) to several universities throughout the United States, called the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program, my interest was once again sparked.

“Wonderful,” I thought. “I can now see things as Warhol ‘saw’ them.”

To my even greater delight, many of the photographs were given to the University of Fullerton here in Southern California, with a grand opening of the exhibit occurring at the Grand Central Art Gallery in Santa Ana, CA.

So in true Warhol form, I gathered some friends (o.k, only two: photographer, Jeff Lefever, and my wife, Melanie), and with cameras in hand, headed to the Artist Village in downtown Santa Ana.

If you do not know Artist Village in Santa Ana, you should. It is a cornucopia of galleries, theatres, hip restaurants, and artist lofts. It is located in the historic district of Santa Ana, surrounded by a cross culture of Hispanic and Anglo influences.

As I walked into the exhibit, and looked around, my initial reaction was, “this is classic Warhol”. There were pictures of famous people, no-named people (I guess Warhol gave them their 15 minutes of fame), buildings, and social events.

As I dug deeper into the exhibit, however, I discovered two interesting facets about Warhol as a photographer.

First, I discovered that Warhol didn’t do anything amazing or new (technically speaking) with his photography. His photos, quite frankly, are fairly typical; but the unique arrangements, repetitive motives, themes, and organized forms he gave to the placement of photographs were quite similar to his paintings and lithographs.

Second, I discovered that Warhol seemed to view the subjects of his photography as interplay between motion and still life.

Most of the photos were of people in staged poses (some associated with their profession, i.e. Jack Nicholas with a golf club), but taken over and over again, tracing the movement of the subjects in a still life fashion, yet showing the motion of the individual over a period of a few moments. It is like watching a slow motion picture on film.

Generally, the themes of the exhibit ranged from Japanese toys, knives, a dinner plate, cityscapes, parades, and of course, people; all arranged in a very Andy Warhol-ish way.

Comparing Warhol’s photos to the Japan song mentioned above, Gentlemen Take Polaroids, one wonders if David Sylvian (the gent who wrote the tune) was attuned to Warhol’s vision as a photographer: all things being “cut and dried” (or arranged according to patterns and movement).

Brian Nixon and the Andy Warhol banner Photo by Jeff Lefever

Furthermore, the song almost categorically spells out the ‘city-only’ (at least in this exhibit) aspects of Warhol’s photography: the “taste of country you will never know.” This city-looking ideal turned out to be some of my favorite: a black and white city triptych, called, Car on the Street.

Yet, the chorus of Japan’s song really hits home with Warhol’s photography: “Gentlemen take polaroids, they fall in love, they fall in love.”

If one thing rings true in this exhibit it is that Warhol loved taking pictures (the vast amount he took is testament to this fact); his was a love affair with all things repetitive, yet with a touch of glamour and grace.

It seems as though Warhol fell in love with the process of taking pictures, seeing the small nuances of change in the subjects being photographed as quite important to the overall time-laced effect of the photographic sessions. Put another way, it was not just the one picture that mattered most of the time, but the array of pictures that created the moment.

In the back of my mind, I wonder if Warhol’s Catholic faith- the repetition of prayers (the Rosary), the iconic use of subject, and the mix between the ordinary and the grand themes- sublimely played a role in his work? One may never know but it is an interesting thought.

As we walked out from the gallery into the beautiful sun, another line in the Japan tune took on a new meaning, “Breath life into me, spin me around, and I’ll sit and wonder why.”

I now have new understanding of how Andy Warhol saw life, with spinning thoughts of how he interpreted meaning and purpose in life, of how Warhol breathed life into his subjects through movement and repetition; and now, over a wonderful sandwich at the Gypsy Den restaurant, Jeff, Melanie, and I had a while to “sit and wonder why.”

Brian Nixon is a pastor, writer, musician, and family man. He currently resides in Costa Mesa, California.