Mike Brodie’s Photos & Andrea Arnold’s American Honey
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.
He stopped making photographs after two projects.
Discovered Mike Brodie’s photos from an interview on Andrea Arnold here.
American Honey
Sean O’Hagan asked Andrea Arnold –
I myself was struck by how closely the mag crew resembled the real-life itinerants, runaways and train-hoppers photographed by Mike Brodie in his 2013 book A Period of Juvenile Prosperity. “Yes!” exclaims Arnold, when I mention this. “I love his photos, they’re beautiful. When I first spoke to Shia [LaBeouf] about the film, I actually gave him a Mike Brodie photo for one of the characters I imagined him to be. But also his pictures have the Polaroid light that I love.”
Sasha Lane Photo via LA
‘American Honey’ weaves an ode to the road with Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough and newcomer Sasha Lane.
Arnold won an Oscar for her 2003 short film “Wasp,” but her real breakthrough was “Fish Tank,” the story of a young British girl struggling to break free from the prescribed life in her tower block. (It was also among the early major glimpses of actor Michael Fassbender.) Though “Fish Tank” was not a box-office hit on initial release, Arnold’s unique blend of grit and lyricism has seen its stature only grow in the years since, cited as an influence by the likes of “Girls” creator Lena Dunham.