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I never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude. ~ Henry David Thoreau

Photo taken with a Polaroid Spectra camera and expired Polaroid Image Softtone film (Type 1200/ISO 640).

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Another Polaroid Spectra image from my recent photo walk at the Newport Pier. It was a typically overcast summer morning and all was quiet along the funky and ungentrified row of shops and restaurants except for the long line of beach-goers waiting patiently outside Seaside Bakery for their turn at some coffee and donuts.

In looking through the photos I took that morning what strikes me the most is the interplay between the old-fashioned and nearly-obsolete medium of instant film and what is pretty much a timeless setting. This photo, and most of the others I took that morning, could have easily been taken in the ’70s when I was a kid spending my own summers in Newport. In fact, I’m pretty sure Seaside Bakery was there at the time and if Polaroid film hadn’t been so darn expensive even then I might very well have a 35-year-old photo that looks exactly like this!

Taken with a Polaroid Spectra camera and expired
Polaroid Image Softtone film (Type 1200/ISO 640)

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I left my comfort zone recently and took a rare stab at street photography and with one of the least discreet cameras ever made I might add. Nothing like the distinctive whirring of a Polaroid to tip people off to the fact that you’re up to no good!

Taken with a Polaroid Spectra camera and expired
Polaroid Image Softtone film (Type 1200/ISO 640)

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It’s a week of milestones here at Instamatic Gratification. Not only am I posting my 800th image but I have a mighty big birthday coming up in just a few days as well. Seems as good a time as any to come out of the shadows and shake things up a bit.

There’s the new Instamatic Gratification Facebook page for one thing. It’s an extension of this blog and yet I’m hoping it will become more than that…a place where I can share some of the great photography-related content I find online while also linking to and promoting the work of some of my favorite photographers (some well-known, some less so). I launched the page quietly a few weeks ago and I must admit it’s getting kind of lonely over there. Please click this link or the FB button at the bottom of this page and join me!

I’ve also launched a portfolio site under my own domain, CarynGilbert.com, where I’ll now be able to present my favorite images within a more professional context. It’s a big step for me and I do hope you’ll visit me there as well.

All that being said, this blog remains my primary creative outlet and I’m as committed to it as ever. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to visit me here. Your support, comments and “likes” mean a lot to me. :-)

See you back here tomorrow!

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More unexpected beauty in the junkyard: This stack of old gas cans, lovely in their color, texture and repetition, caught my eye during my visit to the Gold King Mine and Ghost Town near Jerome, Arizona.

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Continuing on with our theme is another truck detail from my visit to the Gold King Mine and Ghost Town near Jerome, AZ. What a treasure trove of lines, shapes, color and texture that place is. Not sure when I’ll be able to pull off a return visit but it will happen!

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Vintage truck grill detail: The fine line between beauty and decay is evident at the Gold King Mine and Ghost Town near Jerome, AZ.

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Another image from my visit to the Gold King Mine and Ghost Town just outside of Jerome, Arizona. Originally the site of Haynes, Arizona, a gold-mining town established in the late 1800s, this remarkable outdoor museum also happens to be the final resting place for scores of antique cars and trucks.