30 Polaroids in New York City

Pack light.

Every time I travel now, I go into a problem solving frenzy of how I can travel as light as possible. Being a photographer requires carrying more than the average person, and that lifestyle has become somewhat burdensome to me.

Much like my nights spent scrolling for something to watch on Netflix rather than actually watching something, having too much camera gear is a great curse that can actually inhibit creative output.

So many times I’ve stood in front of a potential scene to photograph trying to decide between one of the three lenses in my bag. Agonizing over which would be best. I’ve grown to really resent that feeling. That’s because when I limit myself to only bringing one camera set up at a time, I’m not distracted by indecision. I just shoot.

So this week, my wife and I travelled to New York City, and I only brought my Polaroid I-2, and that’s it.

I highly recommend traveling Polaroid-only. Or at least, single camera-only. There’s a mental connection one makes with the camera in your hands and if you give it time, cool stuff can happen. If we skip across the water only thinking about the tools, nothing interesting will be made.

And of course, I made a video about this trip: