At 17, Mike Brodie hopped on a train from Arizona with plans to visit a friend in Alabama, but headed in the wrong direction. He headed back a few days later, but felt a desire to continue on somehow. With a group of companions, he traveled for the next four years by foot, train hopping, and hitchhiking, and documented their adventures with a Polaroid camera he’d received. After the film he used was discontinued, he transitioned to a 1980s, 35mm film camera to capture their day-to-day lives. Nicknamed ‘The Polaroid Kidd,’ he shared what he saw in a book titled *A Period of Juvenile Prosperity* through Twin Palms Publishers in 2013 and over the years, his work has been exhibited in multiple galleries. Although Brodie has never been formally trained in photography, he was given the Braum Award for An Emerging American Photographer. In early 2015, he came out with the follow up book *Tones of Dirt and Bone*. Brodie hasn’t continued down the road as a photographer, but still exhibits from time to time. Many admire his work, saying that it has made a lasting impact on travel photography and the art world. He currently works as a mobile diesel mechanic and lives in West Oakland, California, with his wife, Celeste. Scroll below to see some of his romantic captures, untainted by the world of Instagram.
