A Period of Juvenile Prosperity

At 17 Mike Brodie hopped his first train close to his

home in Pensacola, FL thinking he would visit a

friend in Mobile, AL. Instead the train went in the

opposite direction to Jacksonville, FL. Days later,

Brodie rode the same train home, arriving back

where he started. Nonetheless, it sparked something

and Brodie began to wander across the U.S. by

any means that were free - walking, hitchhiking and

train hopping. Shortly after, Brodie found a

Polaroid camera stuffed behind a carseat. With no

training in photography and coke-bottle glasses, the

instant camera was an opening for Brodie to document

his experiences.

As a way of staying in touch with his transient community,

Brodie shared his pictures on various websites

gaining the moniker "The Polaroid Kidd" [sic].

When the Polaroid film he used was discontinued,

Brodie switched to 35mm film and a sturdy 1980's

camera. Brodie spent years crisscrossing the U.S.

amassing a collection, now appreciated as one of the

most impressive archives