Born 1985 in Arizona, Mike Brodie 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 United States, amassing an archive of photographs that make up one of the few, true collections of American travel photography. Brodie worked in the tradition of photographers like Robert Frank, William Eggleston and Stephen Shore, but due to never having undergone any formal training, he always remained untethered to the pressures and expectations of the art market.
Brodie compulsively documented his exploration of the tumultuous world of transient subcultures without regard to how the photographs would exist beyond him. After feeling as though he had documented all that he could of his subjects, his insatiable wanderlust found a new passion. As suddenly as he began making photographs, he has left the medium to continue in his constant pursuit of new adventures.
In 2008, Brodie received the Baum Award for American Emerging Artists and has a forthcoming book to be published by Steidl, as well as numerous international shows. Brodie recently graduated from the Nashville Auto Diesel College (NADC) and is now working as a diesel mechanic. Although Brodie has stopped making photographs, the body of work he made in four short years has left an enduring impact on the photo world, and is now being made available to the public.
2011 |
TBD, M+B Gallery, Los Angeles, CA |
Select Group Exhibitions
2010 |
Personal Identities/Contemporary Portraits, Sonoma State University, Sonoma, CA |
Publications
2011 |
TBD, Steidl Books |
Selected Press
2007 |
American Photo (USA), July |