Shake it like a Polaroid picture?

You guys. This seriously distresses me.

I mean, I understand that digital photography is all the rage and the way of the future, or whatever, but there is something so iconic and rad about a Polaroid photo. I know that I've posted many a photograph in this space, all of them digital. And as much as I love Iris and as much as proud as I am of the photos I take with her, none of them have the raw, distinctive beauty of a Polaroid. By comparison, they all seem glossy, too slick, even soulless. I may boast about my pictures and whore out my Flickr page, but it's Polaroids that are tacked to my cube wall and stuck to my fridge.

I have numerous photos from my childhood, all taken at my grandmother's house, all taken by my grandfather on a Polaroid. I remember the excitement and anticipation as I waited for the photograph to develop, gauging the process by the colors as they changed from black, to dark brown, lightening onto sepia, and eventually greens and reds leaking through to complete the process. It seemed like magic. And now, knowing what I know about photo development, it seems even more magical.

And no matter what I try, you just can't recreate that digitally:



See what I mean?

Polaroid, I will miss you, so so much.