Denton-based PolaCon snaps a picture of a passionate instant photography community

John Eric Munoz remembers the Polaroid camera his family had growing up. Munoz says his family used the camera “mostly for family photos on the go,” adding that the photos now provide a physical memory of him and his siblings growing up.

It wouldn’t be until around 2017 that Munoz began shooting instant film himself. His girlfriend, Lora O’Shaughnessy, had a collection of Polaroid cameras the two had never used. It stayed that way until Munoz “stumbled into PolaCon.”

PolaCon is an annual festival held by the Instant Film Society, a group founded by photographers Daniel Rodrigue and Justin Goode in 2012 dedicated to all things analog instant photography. The festivals have grown and expanded throughout the years, numbering three shows across the United States in North Texas, New York and the Bay Area, respectively. After the festivals kickstarted a passion for instant photography, Munoz and O’Shaughnessy now serve as board members of the Instant Film Society, helping plan the conventions each year.

This year’s Denton-based PolaCon 9 begins in full on September 27 and runs through September 29. The festival includes more than 20 sessions of demos, workshops, Q&As and other programming aimed at beginners and longtime photographers alike. It also includes the 13th Annual Polawalk at the State Fair of Texas on September 27, an opportunity for eager photographers to get their creativity flowing at the fair’s opening day thanks to a scavenger hunt asking them to capture different scenes and themes throughout the festivities.

In recent years, Polaroid cameras have seen a resurgence in popularity. Celebrities have embraced the medium, and so have younger generations, as many have found their way back to instant film or discovered it for the first time.

Munoz’s path to Polaroid photography echoes that of fellow board member Alexas Monroe. Monroe received her first Polaroid camera as a gift from her grandmother when she was 12. “It didn’t work. It still doesn’t work, so I was kind of like, ‘What is this thing? Why did my Grandma give me this? She just knows I like photos. I don’t know what this is.’” Monroe says. It wasn’t till she was 19 that she got her first functional Polaroid camera and discovered how much she enjoys instant photography. “I don’t know, after that, I just wanted to shoot Polaroid all the time.”

Monroe fell in love with PolaCon after first attending the event in 2021. The following year, she joined the Instant Film Society board. Now, she and the rest of the board plan each PolaCon as a group effort. “I think we have things that we focus on, but because there’s so much involved in the planning process, we all wind up doing aspects of every job,” Munoz says.

For this year, PolaCon 9 takes place primarily at three different Denton locales: Harvest House, Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios and Dan’s Silverleaf. All photographers are welcome, no matter their skill level or their preferred medium. Monroe highlights her all-ages Instant Film 101 workshop at Harvest House on September 27 and a Polaroid 101 workshop with Martin Souza on September 28 at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios as two starting points for beginners.

Other popular workshops cover topics like portraiture, emulsion lifts and cyanotypes. The latter is a unique technique that involves placing an object on a piece of paper coated in special chemicals and exposing it to UV light. The result is an impression of the object on the paper. “We try really hard to have something for everyone from a workshop standpoint,” Munoz says.

Beyond the workshops, simply bringing a group of photographers together often results in the sharing of techniques and perspectives between attendees throughout the event. “We have 20ish workshops, but you always wind up learning something outside of those as well, just through conversation or people deciding that they want to try something because they’re all in a room together and have similar interests,” Munoz says.

It’s the coming together of a community of passionate photographers that Munoz and Monroe emphasize as one of the best parts of PolaCon each year. Monroe says she hopes attendees leave the festival thinking, “That was the best day of my life,” a feeling she shared when attending the event.

“We get that type of feedback a lot,” Monroe says, explaining how the festivals help connect attendees who might not have found this community of instant film enthusiasts with one another. “I mean, I experienced it as well when I went to PolaCon, so I get it. I know they mean it when they say it.”

PolaCon 9 officially opens on September 27 and runs through September 29. “Day Zero” activities like a meet-and-greet kicked off the event on September 26. For a full schedule of events and times, along with how to purchase tickets, visit https://www.instantfilmsociety.org/.

These interviews were edited for clarity.