Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
This is the first of two Polaroid snapshots that I made of an American flag on a short pole panted by the sidewalk on the east side of Jefferson Street (State Road 1) in the small town of Ossian, Indiana.
The flag is in front of Ossian Tavern, which is the building with the limestone facade. The restaurant next to it is Nel's Cafe.
The light was rapidly changing, with the sun moving in and out of the clouds. I made this photograph when the sun was behind the clouds, then made a second one less than a minute later after the sun came back out.
5-23-22
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Polaroid snapshot of a cast iron horse-head hitching post that stands on the northwest corner of Lower Huntington Road and Old Trail road in the Waynedale area of Fort Wayne, Indiana. It is out by the sidewalk, right at the intersection.
When I was a kid, there was a large group of these hitching posts at that corner, surrounding the signpost that held the sign for the business that occupied the building on that corner. Today, only this one remains.
5-27-22
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
I live in a part of Fort Wayne called Waynedale that had originally been an independent small town. In 1957, the town became part of the city of Fort Wayne, but it still looks like a small town. Although Fort Wayne has an annual parade on Memorial Day, Waynedale has always had its own separate Memorial Day parade. I used my Polaroid camera to make several photographs at this year's parade, which took place last Monday, May 30.
Waynedale residents who own classic cars are invited to drive them in the parade. This old man drove his Ford Model T. I photographed him right before the parade began.
A golf cart with a "Proud To Be An American" sign.
Waynedale residents who own classic cars are invited to drive them in the parade. This old man drove his Ford Model T. I photographed him right before the parade began.
A golf cart with a "Proud To Be An American" sign.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
These Polaroid photos you’ve made are wonderful! I’m glad this film was rescued.
I love this type of documentary and archive you’ve created here!
I love this type of documentary and archive you’ve created here!
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Thanks. I'm having a lot of fun with this series. It took me some practice to learn to overcome the limitations imposed by the polaroid film.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Polaroid snapshot of the Veterans For Earned Healthcare car at the 2022 Waynedale Memorial Day Parade. The car was created by army veteran Richard Robinson using a 1978 Pontiac Bonneville sedan. The car is covered in signs demanding free healthcare for veterans along with signs listing the numbers of American soldiers killed and wounded in recent wars.
Mr. Robinson is the old man walking on the other side of the car. I also have a portrait of him that I made at the 2021 parade.
Waynedale used to be a small town in rural Allen County, Indiana. Although it was annexed by the city of Fort Wayne in 1957, Waynedale still looks like a small town. Fort Wayne has an annual Memorial Day parade, but Waynedale has always had its own parade, too. The Waynedale parade starts at Waynedale United Methodist Church and runs north on Old Trail Road to the Prairie Grove Cemetery.
5-30-22
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Polaroid snapshot of flags flying from the back of a pair of four-wheel all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) at the 2022 Waynedale Memorial Day Parade. There are several American flags, a couple of Indiana state flags, and a "Thin Blue Line" flag. The thin blue line flag symbolizes support for the police.
I photographed them in the parking lot of the Waynedale United Methodist Church, which was the staging area for the parade, before it began.
5-30-22
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Polaroid photograph of a 1958 Pontiac Indian Head Hood Ornament in the warm light of the early morning. Interestingly, it is mounted on the hood of a 1958 Chevrolet Viking Truck!
This truck is one of several old cars and trucks that one of my neighbors has parked behind his house.
Pontiac cars used an Indian head on their hood ornaments because the brand was named for a Native American chief named Pontiac. His tribe, the Ottowa, lived in the area around the modern city of Detroit, Michigan.
6-5-22
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Polaroid snapshot of The Clyde Theatre in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was opened as a movie theater in 1951 by Clyde Quimby, who also owned the Quimby Village shopping center, where the theatre is located. The theatre was later renamed the Quimby Village Theatre and changed to a two-screen movie theatre. That's how it was when I was young, when my parents often took my sister and I there to see movies.
The tall "Clyde" sign sticking up from the top of the marquee was gone by the time I began going to see movies there in the early 1980s. The theatre closed in 1993, and after being briefly used as a church, it was abandoned. By the time I photographed it the first time, back in 2008, it had already sat empty for nearly fifteen years.
In 2017, the old theatre was purchased by Chuck Surack, founder of Sweetwater Music, and a nine million dollar renovation began. The outside was restored to nearly the same configuration as it had back in 1951; the theatre got back its original name and the original "Clyde" sign was rebuilt. The inside was transformed into a live music venue, but the art deco lobby was restored to look much as it had originally. In May 2018, the Clyde Theatre reopened after it had sat vacant for more than twenty years.
5-17-22
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
Very nice detail and colors. I’ve nearly gone through an entire pack of film trying to get good close-in photos of small subjects.
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
I love it. You got the light and shadows perfect for this. A half hour, maybe less, either way and it wouldn’t look as good.
I love the architecture.
Photos like these are a wonderful archive. These would make a nice book.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Thanks, it is a beautiful building. Back when I was a little kid, it was still a movie theater and my parents used to take my sister and I there to see movies all the time. I need to see if I can get some photos inside the lobby; it was very beautiful, had a very glamorous look.
You're right about light and shadows. Here's another photo of the Clyde done just a few minutes earlier. The light didn't change, but the direction of it did, since this was shot looking at the building from a different direction. Big difference in appearance!
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Polaroid snapshot of a pair of book donation boxes next to one of the entrances at Georgetown Square Shopping Center on East State Boulevard, just east of Maplecrest Road, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Someone has spray painted a large heart on one of the donation boxes under the sign that says "Books."
6-1-22
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
How is it that everything in your town is so interesting and worth photographing and everything in mine is so boring?
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
How is it that everything in your town is so interesting and worth photographing and everything in mine is so boring?
The secret is that I carry a camera with me at all times, and I constantly look at things when I am out in the city running errands, etc. If I see something interesting, I stop and photograph it. If the weather is bad or the light awful, and its something that will be there for a while, like a building, then I note it and come back later when the light/weather is good.