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Nowadays, with digital cameras, you can immediately look at the photo you just took, but when I was first taking pictures, Polaroids were the only option if you wanted that kind of instant gratification. It was like watching magic happen when the photo developed right in front of your eyes. My first Polaroid was the Land Camera. I would take the picture and then place the Polaroid under my arm to keep it warm while it developed — it would take about a minute or two — and then I’d peel the positive apart from the negative to reveal the picture. It was far too complicated for me. I really loved to use the SX-70 and 600 series. They were much easier: just point and shoot. I used to photograph everyone who came into my apartment, up against a white wall, every single time they came over. The Polaroids looked like mug shots. I still use Polaroids — the photos you see here are from a recent road trip. Now that Polaroid Corporation has announced it won’t be making instant film as of next year, photographers like myself who shoot both Polaroids and film are thinking, What the fuck?

"Instant Gratification" originally appeared in the July/August 2008 issue of Modern Painters. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Modern Painters' July/August 2008 Table of Contents.