POLAROIDS, STRAWFOOT HANDMADE, AND SANTA CRUZ
I have a newly realized passion in shooting with my Polaroid SX-70. The new film from the Impossible Project is pretty good. After a few disappointing results with their early stuff and what was an inferior camera I had at the time, I’m a full blown believer. It’s not cheap, but it is beautiful. The warm tones are a new look for my work instead of the deep saturated colors from cross processing. The soft colors, focus, and unpredictability are really fun to work with. I’ve purchased a big pack of film for my trip to Bali next week. Hopefully the humidity of the tropics doesn’t get in the way.
One thing about this camera is that it is fairly fragile. I’m used to rugged all metal 35mm cameras that I can toss in a bag and roll. I’m on my second camera already after frying the first post surf in Bolinas. It’s sort of awkard to carry around and does not fit in your pocket. I immediately thought of my buddy Garrett Kautz in Santa Cruz who runs a small outfit called Strawfoot Handmade hand making man gear like dopp kits, key fobs, and bags for moving stuff. He was kind enough to make me a custom SX-70 case out of a light weight waxed cotton canvas with dead stock vintage military webbing for a strap. Really stoked on the result… he’s a talented dude… just handed him my camera and he went to work. I’m ready to shoot and surf in Bali next week. For anyone that is interested in one of these, contact Garrett at Strawfoot and he’ll probably make you something similar. He’s a very talented craftsman, avid biker, surfer, and all around good dude. Photos below from my iPhone.