Jack Perno’s statement about RETURN TO NEVERLAND:

My two sons were on the beach playing when I asked them to imagine a Portal in front of them and poke at it with curiosity. This was important because they had to intellectually connect with the idea to convey the story. I was very pleased with their cooperation and they actually had enjoyed making it.

I rarely get the final shot in one Polaroid but I was very fortunate with this one. I had the idea in advance, so I was able to direct the talent a bit.

Jack Perno’s statement about SAFE HARBOR:

I almost didn’t get this photograph. I had the idea of creating Safe Harbor and I couldn’t get the correct alignment of the Portal and the child. I had exposed all but one sheet of film and none of them worked. The images were misaligned all over the place. Reluctantly, I had resigned myself to an unproductive day. With the sun dropping and only one sheet of film left, I asked the boy to please give me one more shot. I have to give him a lot of credit for sticking with me until the end, because it was the last sheet of film that produced the image and it was worth it.

A lot of time and materials is invested into the initial exposure of the Portal on Polaroid, so it’s very rewarding when the magic occurs.

Jack Perno’s statement about SCREAMIN’ MIKE:

This is the only image where Photoshop has been implemented. I had an illustrator friend who, for 35 years, occasionally worked on my images. In the beginning, he used an airbrush to paint on them and eventually moved to Pshop.

I asked Mike to stick his head through a large Portal and pushed smoke through for effect. My illustrator friend took the images and just experimented without any input from me. I like the way we made the two Mikes going at each other, so I just kept it. There were other images where I put him into an environment or story, but they didn’t quite work. I make an effort to avoid the dangers of cliché but I like visual risks.

Jack Perno’s statement about THE PORTAL:

A multiple exposure of an original solitary Portal suspended against a textured background. All of the Portals are multiple exposures on 4×5 Polaroid Type 55 Positive/Negative film.

Jack Perno’s statement about THE PORTAL SERIES:

A gateway from one place to another, a world, a time , or to an expanded awareness.

Each image is a story or narrative, which susceptible to multiple interpretation, encouraging the viewer to derive their own conclusion and personal meaning.

Jack Perno’s statement about PORTAL OF THE PYRAMID:

This one is a combination of multiple exposures on 4×5 Polaroid and multiple composite printing in the darkroom. The Portal was taken in the studio under semi-controlled conditions. The pyramid is located at the Louvre Museum in Paris. I brought my Polaroids with me during a trip. This was another image that I didn’t plan. I shot it at night. Months later, I was looking at the images and decided to add the clouds into the foreground.

This is a 20 × 24 Polaroid of performance artist, actor and provocateur, India Menuez shot at the Polaroid studio in NYC. This image is part of a figurative & floral series utilizing fiber optic light painting and multiple exposures. I worked on this project my creative partner Brandy Kraft, for about three years to bring life to her hybrid flowers, which are a combination of multiple species reassembled to make a single flower.

2003

“It was summer when I saw little Teddy sitting on a wooden bench at sunset, looking out at Lake Michigan. Fortunately, I had my camera and pre-exposed Portal Polaroids with me. The light from the setting sun lit him perfectly.

Generally I will spend at least a day exposing the Portals on 4×5 Polaroid Type 55 positive/negative. I need to have them available if I have an idea.”- Jack Perno

The childhood wonder and mysticism that Jack Perno exhibits in this image is transformative, rendering the viewer back into their own state of childlike curiosity. Everything from Teddy’s vulnerable body language to the blank inquisitiveness in his features conjures a sense of comprehension. Childhood is a precious age, one that is often marked with daydreams and fanciful journeys during playtime–yet, these are things that we eventually outgrow. In Humanity, we pose the challenge of trying to rekindle these feelings of awe and wonder, as they are marked by the belief in oneself and in the potential for magic to exist within our human realm.

Jack Perno’s statement about BLACKJACK:

Sometimes an idea will just reveal itself without premeditated thought, as was the case with Blackjack. I was shooting portraits for CS magazine’s Men of Style and one man had such a powerful presence that I asked if he would allow me to photograph him for my Portal works, which he happily complied. He is a physician. We never crossed paths again which sometimes happens with people.