Dash Snow

Dash Snow is renowned and idolized by some and virtually unknown by others.  He is remembered as a controversial pop-cultural icon, a brilliant photographer, an underground street artist, a successful New York contemporary artist, an intense friend and father, and as a rebellious socialite and member of high society in the arts. "He embodied everything that I wanted to photograph and everything that I wanted to be: irresponsible, reckless, carefree, wild, rich" - Ryan McGinley.  However subtle or obvious his influence, Dash Snow has greatly impacted art and popular culture today. Snow’s prolific Polaroid series documents his rebellious youth in a grimy, yet simultaneously glamourous way.  Because his lifestyle is displayed in his works, Snow’s polaroids offer an unbiased view into Manhattan’s underground nightlife. Arguably, his work presents the deterioration of New York high society in favour capturing the realness of each moment.

"We were always taking photos. We loved to document our adventures and then compare them later. He carried his Polaroid camera everywhere. His photos were from the heart--he had a loving obsession with taking photographs. I always assumed he shot Polaroids because he had the worst case of ADD you could ever imagine. I think even waiting a minute for the image to develop was hard for him" - Ryan McGinley. 

Images from Vice Magazine donated by Ryan McGinley 

RIP