Instant.

Every year at university i would start a polaroid wall with photos taken only from the summer that had just taken place. It would look meager, perhaps 20 pictures, and i would spend far too long trying to hang each picture straight. Every year this square would take over the whole wall slowly, as i would add pictures throughout the year, ending up with around 300 by the time i was done. May would arrive, and i would painstakingly take all of the pictures down, storing them in boxes which now sit on my bookshelves at home, boxes that i can flip through and remember four years spent at sarah lawrence. This tradition is something i miss. Building a new wall of snapshots always seemed like a wonderful challenge,  filling up an entire space. In london this faded, i think partially due to the fact that whenever you're around a new group of people they just want to ask lots of questions about a polaroid camera, and you can't snap away like you would with some little digital camera you barely notice. I wasn't up for having to have another entire group of friends get acclimated to me slinging around a polaroid wherever i went. Now that i only have a few months left in london i've realized i want to capture my time here in this medium, so that i can have a london box of polaroids to sit next to the ones from new york. A new challenge awaits.

Instant.

Endless Skies & Beachcombers

Polaroids just can't be beat.

Sigh.

Sometimes, for a split second, i forget about Polaroid's awful announcement that they would stop making film. As someone who has avidly documented my life over the past six years with my trusty Spectra, it came as sad news. Right after the story broke i got random messages and emails from my friends and family asking me what i was going to do. My gut instinct was to order enough to finish documenting my life in college, and i successfully ordered a case of film in order to do so. This was over a year ago, and now, i still feel left in the dark hoping that someone will pick up where Polaroid left off and start up production. 

This brings me to yesterday afternoon, when i found my Polaroid back for my Lomo Holga. Immediately i was deeply saddened at the thought of not being able to use this beautiful piece of equipment (which takes a less than popular format of film). After some digging i found one last box of black & white film, and set out to take some pictures. The Holgaroid takes pictures like no other camera i own. Always blurry and out of focus slightly, they evoke something dreamy and magical. The Polaroid back covers the eyehole, so every picture taken is an adventure, a surprise when you peel apart the instant film. I will surely miss this format if it truly stops being made. Here's to you Polaroid.

EDIT: YAY