At this point in my life a quarter of the suitcase is Polaroid film. There’s always going to be some place you can buy underwear and socks (I mean take three days’ worth, just don’t get extravagant) and when you get off the plane find a local place that has t-shirts. Keep the cameras on you at all times.
Somewhere on the West Coast, Polaroid 600 (all of these are April 2021)
I like Ruggard shoulder bags because you can re-configure the insides to fit the unconventional shapes of the SX-70 and 600 and carry a few packs of film, plus they’re pretty light and you can wipe them down if they get wet.
Pioneertown, California, Polaroid SX-70
Of course space in your suitcase opens up as you shoot through the film, but not by much. There’s 8 shots per pack of Polaroid film; I carefully open each box so I can use it to store the photos I make.
At night I sift through the day’s shots into the A-sides and B-sides. I leave a little room for reconsideration, but normally there’s just some flat-out busted things that aren’t going to make any kind of a cut. The ones I really like will make the journey home in the camera bag, so I can make sure they can’t get lost.
Collapsed stone house overlooking the Lucerne Valley, California, Polaroid 600
The current incarnation of Polaroid film is sensitive to light so I immediately place an exposure in a slim case. Over the years the best thing I’ve found was a metal hinged case that housed a stack of Magnum postcards. The material and shape keep the Polaroids from light and from being squished in any way. I carried the first one so long the paint wore off the edges, but a bad drop in a parking lot knocked the lid too loose. I’m now on my second one.
Barstow, California, Polaroid SX-70
David Hidalgo’s accordion, during a break between sets by the great Los Lobos, at Pappy & Harriet’s in Pioneertown, Polaroid SX-70
Landers, California, at dawn, Polaroid SX-70
What strikes me sometimes in looking at these little artifacts is the sense-memory of how I felt. I love that photo of the accordion so much, because I wanted to make a picture of that show but just do not know how to take pictures of a band while they are playing (they always end up looking so static and posed!).
What it can’t capture is that I was freezing, absolutely shaking it was so cold. I had on a denim jacket and some gloves, which was fine when darting in and out of a Jeep with the heater on. After a few hours outside I was just soaked through with the cold, but I was not going to leave—it was the first show I had seen in over a year, and I wanted to listen to every note.
I still have another twenty or so photographs from California to scan, but wanted to spend some time with them on this chilly morning, and reflect on how I made them.
AS ALWAYS I am gorjusjxn on Instagram, and you can see more Polaroids at McCartyPolaroids.