Mike Brodie, aka the "Polaroid Kidd", is an American photographer born in 1985. Initially using a Polaroid SX-70 given to him by a friend before switching to 35mm, Brodie documented his experiences and the people he met while freighthopping across the US from 2004 to 2008, mostly vagabonds, hobos, squatters, and other train-hoppers. Later, stepping away from the limelight, he studied and graduated from the Nashville Auto-Diesel College in 2009, and after working as a diesel mechanic for a time, at last returned to the rails and photography.