Mike Brodie aka The Polaroid Kidd (b.1985) is an American photographer

Born 1985 in Arizona, Mike Brodie first began photographing in 2004 when he was given a Polaroid camera. Working under the moniker, The Polaroid Kidd, Brodie spent the next four years circumambulating the U.S. amassing an archive of photographs that would go on to make up one of the few, true collections of American travel photography. Having never undergone any formal training, he chose to remained untethered to the pressures and expectations of the art market.

Brodie compulsively documented his explorations and as suddenly as he began making photographs, he left the medium behind.

In 2008, Brodie received the Baum Award for American Emerging Artists. A new book, A Period of Juvenile Prosperity published by Twin Palms will be out early 2013, followed by numerous gallery shows. Brodie recently graduated from the Nashville Auto Diesel College (NADC) and is now working as a mobile diesel mechanic in his silver '93 Dodge Ram. Although he has stopped making photographs, the body of work he made in four short intense years has left an enduring impact on the photo world.

His photographs largely depict what he refers to as “travel culture”, train-hoppers, vagabonds, squatters and hobos.

http://mikebrodie.net/