I’m trying to choke down an RC Cola. I haven’t had one in years, didn’t remember the sugary, acid bite of it. Without meaning to I glance at how many calories it is.1 I flinch, then swig the rest.
Yazoo City, Polaroid SX-70 (2022)
My pal Pat Owens was in town and staying up in North Mississippi with Ashleigh Coleman. I got a text they were swinging through the Delta and would I meet them on the edge in Yazoo City. It’s less than an hour away, and I spend the time blaring Third Eye Blind and “Thank U” and “Unsent” by Alanis. I don’t know why but it felt great.
Chow’s Grocery, Yazoo City, Polaroid SX-70 (2022)
Just inside the city limits I see a fellow on the side of the road hawking leather belts. His name is Elvis, and his cowboy hat is more worn out then his GMC truck. I pick a black one with silver and turquoise highlights, and he hammers in N E I L for me at no extra cost, the belt balanced on a flat chunk of slate rock, worn smooth.
The bird of paradise door, Yazoo City, Polaroid SX-70 (2022)
It’s not even summer yet but Pat and I are soaking our Levi’s just by walking slowly down Main Street, as Ashleigh floats around in linen. We huddle up on striking spots (like the bird of paradise screen door), or talk about ones that have passed on due to time or a well-thrown rock (which looks like what claimed the Yazoo Furniture sign, yellow bits of which are scattered about the cobblestones below).
Main Street, Yazoo City, Polaroid SX-70 (2021)
Swipe over to see Pat’s (much more interesting!) shot of the busted out sign.
Ashleigh’s medium format Hasselblad is on the DL so she’s hauling around a DLSR and a Holga. I point out the Bank of Yazoo but nobody’s ever been able to make a good photo of it except the Coen Brothers in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which for my two bucks is one of the greatest movies of all time. I tell them I did try a couple of times, from the alley, pretending I was Babyface and getting the lay of the land, but it was more goth than I wanted. Of course the 1930s were plenty goth.
Main Street, Yazoo City, Polaroid SX-70 (2021)
I don’t think about what I look like when I’m making photographs, and get excited later when Pat texts me and Ashleigh some shots. In one he says I look like Quasimodo, as I’m bent nearly double, and I crack up.
Main Street, Polaroid SX-70 (2022)
Pat Owens, Yazoo City, 2022
I wish the Hastee Tastee was still open on 49 and we could go get fried okra and a milkshake and play Ms. Pac-Man. Instead, after not quite enough time together, it’s time to head to the house. Even with the jitters from the RC Cola, it was a dang fine Sunday afternoon.
THE OGDEN MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN ART is holding its annual Magnolia Ball on June 12, 2022. The silent auction is a wonderful way to support the museum and is chock full of beauty from Southern artists of all kinds. This year I’m supporting them with an original Polaroid made last year in Leflore County, Mississippi, a few steps from one of the alleged graves of Robert Johnson.
Greenwood, or thereabouts, Polaroid SX-70 (2021)
I’ll let y’all know more about it when the auction goes live.
“PLEASE PAY BEFORE” is this week’s installment of GORJUS, a newsletter devoted to art and life in the South on instant film. If you like it, consider sending it to a pal. Just like anything, some weeks are better than others. I’m gorjusjxn on Instagram, and you can see more Polaroids at McCartyPolaroids.
160, omg
Great stuff in this one!