Remember when I had bought new Polaroid film but couldn’t find my Polaroid 600 camera, since it had been so long since the last time I used it? Well, I found it, but as it turned out, it has stopped working. I suppose it was only to be expected; it was vintage, bought second-hand, and I have used it intermittently for 10-15 years.

Somehow I felt that I couldn’t be without a properly functioning Polaroid camera (my SX-70, inherited from my grandfather, needs a makeover to get the autofocus working again). And since the stores have opened again after yet another partial lockdown, I went out and bought the new Polaroid Now, big sister of Kirstin’s new Polaroid Go camera.

I’ve not had enough time yet to know if I will become good friends with it. In one sense it feels too modern – it needs to be charged! it has autofocus! – but on the other hand the fancy modern-ness of it seems to make it more reliable than the old ones I’m used to. Even though it does seem to consistently underexpose my images.

I brought it with me yesterday when I went to get my first dose of Covid vaccine, and after that intense experience – such a relief to finally get the shot! – it was ever so lovely to walk slowly, breathe and not think about anything but light and shadow and viewpoints and composition.

It was a first, slow approach towards friendship with this camera, and I look forward to seeing where it takes us.

~Stay well, Jenny G.