BRODIE, Mike - A Period of Juvenile Prosperity

The Photo book 'A Period of Juvenile Prosperity' by Mike BRODIE was on the top of some Best Of Lists, e.g. of Alec SOTH, Rob HORNSTRA, Tom CLAXTON, The best independent photobooks & DAZEDDIGITAL

"At 17 Mike BRODIE hopped his first train close to his home in Pensacola, FL, thinking he would visit a friend in Mobile, AL.
Instead the train went in the opposite direction to Jacksonville, FL. Days later, Mike BRODIE rode the same train home, arriving back where he started.
Nonetheless, it sparked something and Mike BRODIE began to wander across the U.S. by any means that were free - walking, hitchhiking and train hopping.
Shortly after, Mike BRODIE found a Polaroid camera stuffed behind a carseat.

With no training in photography, the instant camera was an opening for Brodie to document his experiences.
As a way of staying in touch with his transient community, Mike BRODIE shared his pictures on various websites gaining the moniker 'The Polaroid Kidd'.
When the Polaroid film he used was discontinued, Mike BRODIE switched to 35mm film and a sturdy 1980’s camera.
Mike BRODIE spent years crisscrossing the U.S. amassing a collection, now appreciated as one of the most impressive archives of American travel photography.
When asked about his approach to travel and photography Mike BRODIE has said 'sometimes I take a train the wrong way or… whatever happens a photo will come out of it,
so it doesn’t really matter where I end up.'" (publisher's note, © Twin Palms, 2013)

Book Reviews:

"I really wanted to dislike this book, but I was completely won over by the pictures, design and even Mike BRODIE's essay. 'I don’t want to be famous,' Mike BRODIE writes, 'but I hope this book is remembered for ever.'
I have a feeling it will be." (© Alec SOTH)

"Expectations were high from this long overdue publication and on release, it certainly didn’t disappoint.
Superbly edited by Jack Woody, Twin Palms has crafted this sincere and evocative journal of life on the road into an incredible,
almost faultless photobook that will endure for many years to come." (© Tom Claxton)

"One of our breakout hits of international photography fair Paris Photo, Brodie made his name with this images of transient, train-hopping American youths.
It's gritty work in the truest sense of the word – Mike BRODIE spent four years living on the fringe of society with his portrait subjects – but there's an elegaic,
almost mythic quality to his work, like a photographic update of a John Steinbeck novel." (© Zing Tsjeng)