Shooting 4x5 film pretty much ended for me in 2016 when they stopped making Fuji FP100c which was the substitute for 4x5 Polaroid which was discontinued in 2008. Without that test shot—in all its smudgy, discolored glory—I had nothing to look at with the artist, no way to corral his or her opinion into picture making with me. Without that Polaroid I lost the perfect giveaway at the end of the shoot, and I had to give up my (incredibly sophisticated) archiving system of taping one into a notebook and assigning the subject a file number. Every now and then I’ll shoot a few sheets of very expired film that I still have, but it’s mostly for show—nice not to be just another photographer with a DSLR showing up at the door. But in the 90 seconds while we’re waiting for the polaroid to cook, I realize it’s more than a novelty. Time has slowed down and it’s different than the 4 billion photos taken every day (really!) in 2021. The shoot has become an occasion. Something to, you know, not have just scroll by. Thank you @balcony.magazine for encouraging me to dig these out. It was an honor to be in your inaugural issue!