Polaroid of a Polaroid

This camera looks so sad. Maybe it's because there's no film left in the world for him. He thinks about iPhone apps like polarize and feels bitter. The world isn't just changing - it's already changed.

My friend Michael and I rescued him from a house we were cleaning back in 1998. I don't think he really belonged to anyone. We were cleaning the house so it could be put on the market. The house itself was a perfect time capsule replica of 1978, and the camera was a precious specimen that was left behind. Michael and I had a few qualms about taking it. We justified it by believing that the camera was purposely abandoned because who in the 1990's was actually taking polaroid pictures?

Anyway, I'm no pack-rat but I think I'll keep him. After all, he took one of my favorite all time pictures:

It's the Springfield Mall parking lot on a Sunday evening, sometime in 1998. Ever heard of the Springfield Mall in Pennsylvania? Probably not unless you remember Sylvia Seegrist. She made the mall temporarily famous by going on a shooting spree there in 1985. The Mall means a lot to me because it was were I had my first job, scooping ice cream at Bressler's 33 flavors.