Polaroid - part 1.

This is probably the most amazing part about the whole trip. Not only did we travel thousands of miles covering practically every road West of the Mississippi, but the whole thing was documented on Polaroid film. Dad thought Polaroid was the greatest invention ever conceived and stubbornly remains loyal to the product to this day. Even now since they haven't made the cameras and film anymore Dad has hoarded all the Polaroid film he can get his hands on, keeps it frozen in storage and rations it during his trip for all the traditional photos he needs to take. He owns and collects every model of Polaroid camera and uses all of them according to which photographic situation suits him best, but the main camera of the trip is the "95", Dad's first camera and the first model Polaroid camera ever sold. Dad still takes pictures with it to this day.

The story goes; Dad was given the camera as a gift by his father when he graduated from grammar school sometime back in the 1940's, he was so intrigued and fascinated by the instant developed pictures, that he became almost religiously devoted to Polaroid and refused to accept any other form of film. The camera he takes on the trip, the "95" is the same camera he was given 60 years ago and has since been repaired and jury rigged to keep it functional, but it still works.

The main function of the "95" seems banal and boring, but given the uninterrupted years of use and sheer number of photos it has taken, gathered up and put into context the pictures this single camera has taken is extraordinary and borders on genius. Every motel Dad and we have ever stayed at on the trip, has a picture taken of the view outside the room. Without fail Dad has taken a Polaroid snapshot with the "95" outside the room of every motel, whether the view is a pastoral landscape on a perfect Summers day, or a brick wall, it doesn't matter, the picture is taken no matter what. Usually the picture is of the motel parking lot, often using our own car as the centerpiece of the photo, but sometimes magic seems to happen and a deceptively simple picture outside a Motel 6 can say a thousand words. It is also typical for Dad to stay at the same motel multiple times over the series of many years, each picture outside the rooms will reveal the passage of time in a small town, noting either growth or depression. On the back of each Polaroid photo Dad will note the details of the setting, the room number, the town, date and any other thought that might occur to Dad as he was taking the picture. Often the sayings are silly, but in a strange way they always make sense.

Polaroid photos take a minute to develop, but sometimes art takes decades to develop.