Who’s Up for a Battle?
Photo and words by revivify
Last Saturday Nick and our friend Jesse conned me into seeing George Romero’s ‚“Diary of the Dead”. I generally hate scary movies, but I can usually stomach zombie flicks, so I went. Five minutes into the movie, I was already sitting with my knees pulled tight to my chest, fingers in my ears, when I caught a glimmer of something on the screen. I turned to Nick. He gave me his ‚“I know‚” look. I turned back to the film. Yep, it was a Spectra flashing on the big screen. At that moment, I knew no matter how terrible the film might turn out to be, I would secretly like it. The next night, while watching ‚“The Lives of Others‚”, it happened again. This time, it was a SLR 680 sighting. The night after that, I was flipping through one of my mom’s magazines when I spied a 180 land camera in a fashion editorial. I’m sure Edwin Land was giving me a little wave as a smile came across my face.
I purchased my first Polaroid camera, a crappy One600, in the summer of 2004. It is the only Polaroid camera I’ve ever bought new. My work had a bunch of 600 film expiring in the supply closet, and seeing that no one would be using it anytime soon, I asked if I could have it. I was handed around 15 packs. From the minute I took my first shot, I was hooked. I loved watching that little square develop in my hand. Each shot was unique and unpredictable. I loved the graininess of the film, the distorted colors and the fact that there was no deleting and retaking; every shot was one of a kind. It made each photograph more meditated and important. The first picture of Nick and I was taken in July of that summer. It was a Polaroid.
That fall when I studied abroad, I lugged my camera around for so long that I developed a chronic pain in my shoulder. It resulted in several sessions at the chiropractor. It hurt, but there was no stopping my addiction. As time went on, I began purchasing other cameras. I scoured thrift stores and bought a rainbow sx-70, a Square Shooter, a Colorpack, an automatic 101 and then finally, I broke down and bought four sx-70’s off of eBay. Only three of them worked, so Nick and I spent a night dissecting the innards of the broken one, learning how it functioned. I shot only a few packs of time zero before it was discontinued. My heart ached.
As time went on, I wanted to learn more and more about Polaroids. I book marked websites, purchased books, got a Polanoid account and discovered Flickr and it’s communities. I learned new tricks, found beautiful Polaroids and made lots of friends. I’ve taken Polaroids in foreign countries, at weddings, while driving and atop a glacier. I even took a Polaroid every day for an entire year. Did I take digital shots of these same moments? Yes. Which shots mean more to me? I think the answer is simple. Polaroid helped me reconnect with my deceased grandfather, prompted me to drive to San Francisco and has connected me with some amazing individuals.
Every time I think about Polaroid film vanishing forever, my heart aches a little more. Napoleon once said that victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting. Who’s up for a battle?
