the disposable memory project

Well, this is a first! Camera 441 was released on live television!

Thanks to Owen for featuring the show on his Geekin’ Out slot, and as the host said, this is “Epic”!

We’ve released our 400th camera!

After almost four years (that’s 100 a year), we’ve reached our 400th camera – which was released by Alex L in Columbus, Ohio, USA – and then quickly picked up by Josh.

Thanks to everyone who has taken part in the project since we started, its an amazing achievement to have released this many cameras into the world, and we’re really excited to be continuing on our journey into 2012.

I’d imagine there are few people on the planet who haven’t thought about travelling into space at some point – I know as a kid, I was fascinated by space travel, and still now as an adult, viewing rocket launches online, reading about the planets and watching Prof. Brian Cox’s Wonders of the Universe still blows my mind. After the almost three years of running the project – we’ve reached a point where space is the logical next step. We’ve released cameras which have reached the South Pole, Everest, and travelled collectively hundreds of thousands of miles – so the next challenge for us has to be getting a camera in to space.

We took a step closer to that this year, with Camera 310, created by Steve B. in Piedmont CA, which travelled on to Kazakhstan to watch the launch of three cosmonauts to the International Space Station, and was then handed over to NASA Astronaut Robert L. Satcher (or @astro_bones to his twitter followers).

We’ve yet to hear back from @astro_bones – but needless to say, the possibility of one of our cameras hanging around with the talented scientists and engineers of NASA, whether it gets sent into orbit or not, is pretty exciting. Check out the Camera 310 page

Serena W. is one of the top supporters of the project. Having already organised a massive batch of cameras being released in Singapore, she’s now on the case for taking over the UK too. Serena tells us about the five cameras she’s just released in Manchester:

FEUM 1001 – 1005 (5 cameras in total) were released on 24 March 2010 at the Society’s trip to Don McCullin’s photography exhibition: Shaped By War at Imperial War Museum North, Salford Quays (Manchester). The other 5 will be release at the society’s next trip.

Having this project run in the society was my initiation. Basically, I am from Singapore and came over to Manchester for my studies. I first got to know about the Disposable Memory Project through LomotionSG.com. As I was already in Manchester when I found out about this project, I decided to release my own cameras. Photography has been my hobby and I have been trying out various forms of it (including Lomography). The magic of film/ analogue photography never fail to amaze me. So when I got to know about the Disposable Memory Project, I was trilled! Prior to releasing the cameras to my fellow PhotoSoc members, I have already released 7 cameras if I am not mistaken (one of which have returned to the project and uploaded – Camera 246). Members who have received the cameras expressed that the idea is very interesting and there is this excitement within them. I think this is one very special thing/feel to this project. Looking forward to the return images (:

Thanks again Serena!

You can follow the Cameras the group dropped here:

Camera 283
Camera 285
Camera 286
Camera 287
Camera 288

Despite a number of cameras going to the V festival this year, we hadn’t yet managed to get a camera into the hands of a celebrity, until now! Chris C emailed us today to let us know that he released Camera 211 in to the hands of Suggs from Madness. Chris went on to say:

He may have left it lying on the grass when he went to perform his set. Anyway, if Suggs didn’t take a photo, he made up for it with a brilliant performance on stage.

And there’s proof in the photo above. Well Suggs, if you’re reading, do let us know what you do with the camera!

Our Cameras are in over 50 countries across the world – but now they’re travelling to the underworld too – Christy H. has written in to tell us about sending her camera to Hell. Hell, Michigan that is.

This weekend, I was invited to a bonfire in the tiny town of Hell, Michigan and decided that it would be a perfect place to drop a Disposable Memory Project camera.

Camera 207 was left in front of the Hell Country Store. Hell is located in Livingston County, about 15 miles from Ann Arbor. It does, in fact, “freeze over” each winter, which is a continual source of amusement. Nobody really knows how the town got its unusual name, but two theories persist:

1) It may be a shortened translation of a German phrase “So schon hell” — which the locals claim means “beautifully bright.”

2) The more popular legend is that George Reeves, who helped settle the area, was asked what he wanted to name the town. He replied “you can name it hell for all I care,” and the name stuck.

Whatever the town’s origins, you can now proudly say that a DMP camera has been through Hell. I just hope it makes it to Hell and BACK!

We hope the camera has more than a snowball’s chance of returning home – so if you’ve been through Hell recently – have a look for the camera, and maybe you’ll manage to snap a few devilish pictures (enough of the puns already!) Read more about Camera 207 at the camera page.

Sally R. has four our of cameras, and is today starting her journey to Greenland to spend a few weeks out on the ice sheets doing hydrological research. We’re going to be following her journey as far as possible, and letting you know about the cameras which get handed out.

Sally says:

I have attached a Google Earth image of our trip, we are being picked up in Kangerlussuaq, and are camping out in the middle of the white bit next to a blue bit

We’ve added the cameras all starting in Swansea today so you can follow the journey, and as we know more about each one, we’ll post them to the site.

Camera 159
Camera 160
Camera 161
Camera 162

You can also keep track on the blog and twitter.

Well, we’ve done it – in just over one year, we’ve reached our 100th camera – courtesy of Graham K.

Just left Camera with Jim, captain of the Phoenix, a two masted sail ship due to leave for Morbiene in France, next week out of Charlestown, Cornwall

(Thanks Dad!)

Camera 100 is a wonderful milestone to reach – and we couldn’t have done it without the help of our community of camera droppers. Between us, we’ve left cameras in 28 countries, as far as Nepal and Cambodia, East and West Coast US, Africa, South America, and all over Europe.

To help us hear what you have to say about the images, and to tell more of the cameras’ stories, we’re introducing the ability to comment on cameras. All of the cameras which have returned home, and some of the active cameras now have a ‘Comments’ tab above the list of updates. Click on that, enter your name and message, and we’ll add your thoughts to the page. We’d love to hear your comments on the images, and the camera’s journey – as well as if you know any of the people in the images or the locations, so we can build more of the story. Come along and say hello!

Monika A. has emailed to tell us a bit more about her Camera 93, which later this week will be making the mammoth journey to an Everest Basecamp in Nepal. We asked her about the trip she is making.

The Project: So where is the camera currently?

Monika A: Burgdorf near Hanover, Germany

DMP: And why are you going to Everest?

Monika: Generally I am very interested in foreign countries, their landscape and the people who live there. That’s why I love to travel.
Nepal – and especially the himalayas – is a destination that on the one hand I always wanted to visit – on the other hand I wasn’t sure if I would ever manage to get there.

When Jon and Chris (my significant other) decided to organize a trek to Everest Base Camp in Nepal as a photography and videography workshop it was clear for me that this would my opportunity to be part of a unique experience.

Did I mention that I am very passionate about photography? This journey is a great chance to combine both hobbies as the trek will offer the environment to take all kinds (and lots!!) of photographs. I am really looking forward to receiving many many new impressions, which may also push my photography to a new level.

DMP: How can we follow your journey?

Monika: You can get trek updates (on a probably daily basis) on http://netvibes.com/everesttrek

DMP: We’ll be following you closely, and best of luck!

Monika: Thanks – keep your fingers crossed that I don’t get altitude sick

You can read more about the project at http://www.everesttrek2009.com/ and of course, we’ll be charting its progress on our own Camera 93 page.

Good luck to Monika and the rest of the team. This may be our most amazing camera drop yet!

We’re rapidly approaching 100 cameras! We’ve had a bunch of cameras released over the last week:

Camera 91 and Camera 90 in Taunton, UK
Camera 89 in San Francisco, USA along with a wonderful image of the Golden Gate bridge (pictured above!)
Camera 88 in Austin, TX
Camera 87 released in London, but has found its way to Barcelona
Camera 86 handed over in Glasgow, Scotland
Camera 85 released in Morro Bay, CA
Camera 84 released in London, but taken to San Francisco
Camera 83 handed over in Nottingham and winging its way to New York

Graham K, who dropped the Taunton and Nottingham cameras is currently travelling around Devon and Cornwall with a handful of cameras ready to leave, so we’ll be tracking his journey via the site. Kirsty S is currently in California, and has told us she’ll be dropping some cameras over the next week or so, and we have word of trips to South Africa, Canada and Japan from some of our community – so lots of interesting drops coming up.

Who will hit the magic Camera 100? Watch this space!