meandering cameras

OK we’re back

admin — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:40:49 +0000

Due to a new job (excuses excuses) I have taken a long leave of absence. There’s one set of pics waiting to be uploaded so that will come shortly–and then I’ll be sending out four cameras this week.

I still exist, I swear. Sort of.

Wow, I am way behind

admin — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 04:47:19 +0000

Yeah, I haven’t been working on this in a while. I’ve got some cool ideas, but I hate being buried in work! So okay, here’s my promise. Full relaunch in a month. (And we’ll see if I’m a liar.)

Okay, an update! (After Hong Kong)

admin — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:57:32 +0000

So a couple more cameras I handed out to my cousins in Hong Kong, one of whom was heading back to Tokyo, the other heading on to London. Oh nepotism. I think their names were Alain and . . . can’t remember! Let me check my handy notebook. Oscar, that’s it.

Michel, whom you met in the last post, moved on to Malaysia, too . . . a logical progression from Singapore. (Thanks to Claire M.–not a camera name, by the way–for taking care of him.)

And I heard back from Jessica, who drifted from San Francisco, to my own backyard, even–to Boston!–and back south to Washington, D.C.

It is really weird having no content until the cameras come all the way back! Thoughts after the jump on this.
I think one thing I might try in the future is having people take some pictures of themselves as they contact me? Or does that ruin the surprise? And I have definitely had a couple of near-returns that didn’t pan out. (You folks with the finished cameras, are you listening? Oh well.)

I’m sorry for the sporadic update, I don’t have a Twitter feed for this site yet, and stuff’s busy at work and with family, especially after my last trip to Hong Kong. I’ve been back a week and I still haven’t quite recovered.

Michel’s in Singapore

admin — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:39:46 +0000

I gave a camera (Michel) to a couple of young women having breakfast in the hotel I was staying at. I saw them again at Suntec City, and I’m pretty sure they noticed me since I was spinning around this weird wishing fountain. I wish more cameras would come back!

Anyway, flight in four hours, and I need to sleep. Happy new year (soon)!

Happy holidays!

admin — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:41:50 +0000

That’s all. I’m off to hit the post office before I go, hope I can make it in time before I head to Asia. I’ll be sending Charlotte off to Matthew. Over time I am beginning to see how our projects are different. I also gave a camera to my friend who was heading to Vancouver, B.C., Canada, named Edward. After the jump, some thoughts on the project so far.
One difference is that I am always handing a camera off to someone at the beginning instead of leaving it to be found on the street. I hope that it will make it more likely that cameras will return. There is always the risk that someone gets a camera and just thinks “yay, free camera!” and I am sure that has happened to at least a couple of the cameras by now. Maybe the holiday spirit will help prevent that, haha.

But handing off the camera to start seems to make people feel more like it’s their “pet camera” so that it doesn’t get handed off again. I know that some of my friends with cameras have been slow about sending it on, or have just hung on to the camera for a long time.

Anyway, that’s the whole point of this thing! Things drift away, sometimes they drift back. It’s a modern equivalent to a message in a bottle.

Eric’s back

admin — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:44:33 +0000

I gave out another camera today, name’s Katie. But that’s not the main point of this update . . .

Yeah, the first camera came back! $1.43 in postage due, but he made it. I got a photo cd to save the trouble of scanning, and to see if the resolution’s any good. Okay! Pictures are now up. Okay! Everybody look at your hands! Anyway, look after the jump.

Cameras everywhere

admin — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:40:41 +0000

Sorry for the late update! I’ve had a busy time at work. I sent out ten cameras to my friends a couple of weeks ago. I’ll be dropping two more overseas before my trip to Singapore and Hong Kong in a few weeks, where I hope to leave a couple more in random bars. After the jump, the ten cameras I sent out–and where I sent them.

Also, I heard back from Rose, but the guy who has her won’t reply to my e-mails anymore. So if you’re reading this, I’d like to hear from you . . . I also will be seeing Eric and possibly Caleb and Pasha again soon–more of that after the jump too. (Have I even mentioned all three of them before?)

So first, the ten cameras:

Claudia went to St Louis
Sitara went to Chicago
Seamus went to Kansas City
Paul went to Washington, D.C.
Pasha went to Burlingame, California
Daphne went to Baltimore
Sarah went to Chicago too
Alex went to New York
Matt went to Chicago
Peter went to Seatttle

Right out of a children’s book, I suppose. You can count them on your fingers and have a mini-geography lesson while you’re at it too.

I’ve already heard back from Pasha. He (she? I had a debate with a friend about the gender of this name) has been far already, and has five shots left. Eric is supposed to be in the mail right now, heading back. His caretaker wouldn’t tell me where he’s been, so I’m looking forward to the surprise.

I’m looking forward to Singapore and Hong Kong. Hope I don’t do something stupid and get caned, though. I’m throwing out my chewing gum now.

Sorry to leave you hanging

admin — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:51:21 +0000

Hey! After the jump, the rest of the photos from in front of Diesel Cafe in Somerville on Halloween. Sorry for the delay! I had some technical issues.

I think what’s beautiful about this whole thing is that the pictures are mundane in one sense and absolutely brilliant in another sense. It’s like we’re having one strange party photo shoot together.

New logo

admin — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:04:57 +0000

Work’s killer. Life’s killer. That’s why I try to make time for this when I can! So today I put up the logo my lovely friend Jeeyun Kim designed for me.

Also, I promise I’ll scan the photos from the camera in front of Diesel Cafe (the “other thing” I mentioned before) tomorrow. It’s just too late now. I have to figure out whether I’m gonna host them here or on Flickr, that’s part of the delay.

Finally, I’ve got nine cameras labeled to send across the country to a few friends pending names, and I’ll be leaving a few more behind somewhere this week.

Big shipment is here

admin — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:58:24 +0000

Yesterday I came home from work to find that my shipment of 25 cameras has arrived. So a few of my friends in far-flung places will be receiving cameras in the mail very soon! (The envelopes arrived a few days earlier.) I’ll also be leaving a few more cameras in random places too.

First, I have to come up with 25 names, though!