Photo Op

15 Polaroids

Your portable friends

Michael O'Neal

The Idea

I have had a love affair with Polaroid since the late 1990s, walking the streets of New York City, finding beauty in the mundane. I find it a great tool for quick reference, to help build a visual diary, or to create a painterly, fine-art image. The fact that it collapses down flat makes it very portable and great for traveling. The simple controls are minimal, being just an exposure control and a focusing ring. And there is no need to keep a spare battery-there's one in every film pack.

Sunroof

I got in my ear and noticed there were thousands of water droplets on the sunroof, so I moved in for a close-up shot using the manual locus.

The Ingredients

• ▶ Polaroid camera
• ▶ Polaroid film ...