Southern California Polaroid Mania

I recently found a bunch of Polaroids from a trip I took to see my dad in Los Angeles in 1986. These shots bring back a lot of memories and makes me sad that Poloroid is going out of business. These cheap instant pictures show their subjects in a unique way that digital cameras can't duplicate. As a teenager, I was obsessed with stadiums and sports arenas (actually I still am). These first shots were of Anaheim Stadium way before it was renovated after the Rams left.







We also took a trip to see USC. A high school buddy of mine and I went thinking possibly about going there. We had our pictures taken in front of the iconic Tommy Trojan statue in the middle of campus. I forgot all about this shot and am thrilled to still have it.



My dad got lucky one night while I was there and got Lakers tickets, which were nearly impossible to get. I was on cloud 9 when we went to the Forum to see Magic and Kareem. I took a bunch of pictures but they didn't turn out very well. This blurry shot was the best of the bunch, which really disappointed me since I had always wanted to go there and get good pictures of the experience.



My favorite shot of the whole bunch was taken a few months later when I went back that summer. We went to an LA Raiders game at the Coliseum and this one shot I took before the game turned out fantastic.



I should grab some Polaroid film before it's all gone and go back to LA to see if I can reenact some of these shots. The Forum doesn't have pro basketball anymore but the Coliseum still looks pretty much the same and the Tommy Trojan statue is still there. I'm sure my wife would love that trip!