5 Frames… Of my boy (skeleton) Jeffrey on Polaroid Color SX-70 film

A few years ago, looking for things to do in the waning of the pandemic, I spent a lot of time online. I think we all spent a little more time online. Instagram, Tik-Tok, Snapchat, whatever could help me to pass the time and connect me to fellow bored people looking to pass the time as we waited for either the world to end or the pendulum to swing back to normal.

It was there in those musings that I discovered two things: The first was a love for instant photography. In the 2 short years since I started exploring the world of the instant photograph I have acquired way too many cameras and not nearly enough film to shoot in them.

The second? I found 5-foot-tall skeletons at a pretty sharp discount. Say hello to Jeffrey.

I IMMEDIATELY purchased one and named him Geoffrey, after an old internet personality my friends and I used to watch. I also vowed to never confirm the spelling of his name. I took my skeletal friend, some Polaroid film, my trusty SX-70, and a real friend (also with a skeleton). We ventured out to the only reasonable place you take a skeleton, the beach.

After a short drive, we arrived. We paced up and down the boardwalks looking for the perfect place to dip our toes. I thought the water was a little cold, but Big J was happy as a clam. After sustaining a minor injury (I still have the scar where my arms caught my skeletal friend) we ventured out of the sand and onto the boards.

As it turns out, people who work at the beach in the fall are both bored and willing to indulge a fair amount of nonsense.

We wandered into a carousel, and since there were no lines to wait on, immediately began making use of the rides. Little J loved the horsies the best. After a few laps around the circle Geof started to get dizzy so we moved along on our seaside tour.

We stopped at a local gallery, pausing to admire the art. As it turns out, I’m not the only fan of photography in our little trio! The gallery attendant was very kind and both did not kick us out and gave Jeff a sticker to help celebrate his newfound love of art.

All this walking and occasionally being thrown/dragged made me, I mean Geoffrey, hungry. So we stopped for a perfectly normal lunch of movie theater popcorn without seeing a movie. I found our impromptu lunch quite filling, but I think Jef might have been confused about how exactly to enjoy his snack.

We started to make our way home after a long day at the beach. But of course, like any toddler, Jeofrey wanted to stop at the playground to play. We indulged his whining and briefly visited a local park. 2 swings and 3 slides later and the rain we had been hoping to avoid all day started so we man handled Geofrey back into the trunk and headed home.

If you’d like to see more of my boy J, I dedicate the whole month of October to posting pictures of him in action. It is rapidly becoming one of my favorite photographic traditions, a time to hang out with an old friend, get out and about in the world, and take some cool photos. I don’t know how we’re going to one-up last year’s adventure, but it’s a problem I look forward to solving!

~ Dylan