Capture the Moment by Chris Aitken.
“Like many semi-professionals, my photography journey began at Urban Outfitters.”
So begins the story of Michael Hunt, who says he has learned to “embrace the imperfections” of his chosen nature photography medium: Polaroid.
In a two-minute video, Hunt is shown lovingly waggling the tiny – and underwhelming – landscape photos his vintage Polaroid instant film camera spits out.
Hunt doesn’t exist.
But Yellowknife resident Chris Aitken, who created and played him, says he’s seen photographers like Michael Hunt making painfully self-absorbed videos about their work. That was his inspiration for the comedy short.
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Initially, Aitken was simply testing a new lens. Then, a concept took hold.
“It started from the idea of a person who takes overly serious pictures but it’s on, like, the worst platform and the result is terrible,” he said, to the dismay of actual Polaroid fans.
“This is not made after one specific person, but the pretentious photographer is a short doc I’ve seen a couple times.”
Having finished the video as a labour of love, Aitken had no website or social media presence for it. Instead, he saw an ad for the Vancouver Short Film Festival and entered it.
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His short, titled Capture the Moment, screened there in June. It was shown at the New York Short Comedy Film Festival earlier this month, Aitken said, and will appear at the LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival on November 15.
He released it on YouTube a week ago. (He also now has an Instagram – an app whose icon was once a Polaroid camera.)
Is Capture the Moment the first in a series? That’s not clear yet.
“I’ve had many people ask me about when a follow-up will be,” said Aitken.
“I still have the hat, which is the primary focal point for the costume. So I definitely wouldn’t rule it out.”
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