A man, his Polaroid, and a bond that clicked
FOREST LAKE, Minn. (KMSP) - Every day, Sean Beconovich takes on a seemingly impossible task: keeping an unruly Forest Lake, Minn. Walmart parking lot looking just so. His constant pursuit of perfection stems from his Asperger syndrome, a type of autism. Somewhere along Sean's very straight line, he stumbled onto a past time that would change his life by unlocking an imagination he didn't know he had.
"I've read on the internet this is one of the sexiest cameras of all time believe it or not. And it truly is a gorgeous machine, it's timeless,” he said.
Sean was just 12 years old when he picked up his first Polaroid. He was drawn to more than just the camera. He developed a passion for the brand and what its founder Edwin Land stood for.
"Don't do anything that someone else can do. Don't undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible."
Twenty years later, those words still echo in Sean's head as he proudly shows us this newfound creative side of himself.
"One shot to get the picture right; I enjoy that challenge. Take it from me, it's been worth every penny so far."
Truth be told, most of those hard earned pennies are spent on film.
“They cost 23 dollars 49 cents per pack of film and each pack of film is only eight pictures.”
That's three dollars a photo. So why not just use a smartphone like everyone else? Well, that would leave little to the imagination.
“Taking a digital picture takes you from the start of the journey to the end of the journey instantly, therefore skipping the journey itself. Watching them develop is so addicting it's the only kind of high i really ever need in my life."
There are a lot of fans of the Polaroid brand, but few can say it's changed their life. Sean is definitely one of them. We happened to know of one other, and we thought the two should meet because we had a feeling they might click. We introduced Sean to Scott Hardy, the president and CEO of Polaroid.
When Hardy heard about Sean's genuine appreciation for the brand, he wanted to help us “Undertake a project that would be manifestly important and nearly impossible.”
For the better part of an afternoon, two guys who, in their own way, are in constant pursuit of perfection, let go of all things just so.
“I love the exciting kind of suspense of watching my Polaroids develop right before my eyes. You never know how they're gonna turn out until they're fully developed,” Sean said.
“Right, there's that magic to it, right?" Scott replied.
it's not often memories like these come out this perfect.
“We appreciate fans like you who are so passionate about our heritage. We've been around for over 75 years and it's people like you who have such an affinity for brand that mean so much to us,” Scott told Sean.
Scott knew how much Sean was spending on old school Polaroid film, so he gave Sean one of their new camera models and film which isn't nearly as expensive.