Vanishing Polaroid

trailer

2009-04-13T08:41:00.000-07:00

Somehow, trailer parks have managed to survive. These communities of homes on wheels seem stuck in time, mobile but immobilized by having nowhere else to go. This image was made last week, but it appears to be 40 years old. I don't know if these communities will eventually fade away altogether, or go through a renaissance and thrive again. In a way, they represent what Polaroid is going through right now. There was a recent sale of what remains of Polaroid to a group that would like to revive it. Then the sale was rejected and an auction for the assets reopened to bidders. There is talk of re-introducing some of the peel-apart pack films that helped make Polaroid a household name. But at this moment, those films are in diminishing supply and Polaroid is hanging on by a thread. I hope it survives. In the meantime, I am also uncertain about continuing this blog. This may very well be the final post. So, thanks for visiting. It's been somewhat of a nostalgic trip.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

2009-04-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

Singular.

Imperfect pink

2009-03-29T15:00:00.000-07:00

Pink car. Pink leaves. But what really made me put these two together is that they were both just plain sloppy images. The pink VW was photographed by sticking the camera out my car window while driving on the freeway. And the tree with the pink leaves was shot from a parking structure. Not only is it a poor composition, but it's underexposed, too. Oh well. . .that's what I love about Polaroid. It can be pretty random and less than perfect.

signs and wonders

2009-03-22T19:28:00.001-07:00

The signs are obvious. But I wonder why anyone would trim their tree like this?

take it to the rack

2009-03-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

The bikes are waiting for some riders, and the hoop is waiting for some game.

Have a Ball

2009-03-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

Whether you're young or old. By yourself or on a team. Play ball!

Bridge to the past

2009-03-02T05:58:00.000-08:00

Here we have the famous (infamous?) old bridge in Pasadena and an antique sign for Pepsi-Cola. Just above the old sign was a note that it's for sale for $1200.

B & B

2009-02-23T08:04:00.000-08:00

No. . .it's not bed & breakfast. Just a bus stop & barber shop. I had never seen a fan at a bus stop before. It wasn't plugged in, so maybe you just have to wait for a stiff breeze - in which case, you wouldn't need the fan.

Getting There

2009-02-15T20:47:00.000-08:00

I like the underlying contrasts of these two simple images. The bright red of the old train, and the stark white of the snow on a mountain road. The anticipation of going someplace on a well-traveled train, and the anxiousness of going nowhere on a snow-covered road.
Warm vs. cold. Hope vs. despair.

Relics

2009-02-08T20:20:00.000-08:00

Here are a few new Polaroid photographs of very old subject matter - an abandoned truck, a tall ship and a nondescript warehouse.

Santa Anita

2009-02-01T19:20:00.000-08:00

I'm not much of a gambler, so I don't visit the race track very often. But Santa Anita is a pretty cool place so I went early one recent morning to watch the workouts and explore with my Polaroid camera. Here's a couple of shots I like.

water

2009-01-25T19:20:00.000-08:00

Somehow, these images are connected. One is wet. The other is dry. But both contain water.

At the Beach

2009-01-18T15:57:00.000-08:00

Winter in Southern California is not the same as it is in other parts of the country. We've had a week of summer-like weather here, so I decided to make a few new Polaroid images on a gorgeous morning at the beach.

Local Haunts

2009-01-11T14:15:00.000-08:00

I chose these two locations in my hometown of Monrovia to start this blog with subject matter that just seemed to lend itself perfectly to Polaroid film. Old, but cool.