the disposable memory project

Well, the unbelievable has happened. One of our cameras has made the most remarkable journey. A journey that few humans would have the opportunity to make in their lifetime. Not only has it travelled almost 19,000 miles, but it has travelled to the most extreme parts of our globe. Little Camera 159 is the camera which made its way to the South Pole, and survived the journey home to tell its tale.

It started its journey last year in Swansea, where Sally R. created the camera:

We will fly via Copenhagen to Greenland where we are being airlifted by helicopter to the ice sheets to camp out and do hydrological field work.

The camera then passed on to Sam D in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Two other cameras from the journey returned home at this point, Camera 160 and Camera 162, but our trusty little Camera 159 continued on south, to be found by Paul T. at the British Base at Rothera, Antarctica:

I was handed one of your cameras at a remote field camp called Sky-Blu at the base of the Antarctic Peninsula, whilst working for the British Antarctic Survey this summer. I took it with me on a project at the South Pole, and then returned with it to the British Base, Rothera.

If the images of Winnie the Pooh are worrying, don’t worry, polar bears haven’t turned to honey for subsistence:

I took a couple of pics at the South Pole – apologies if there are a couple of spoiled pics, but it was -30c and my gloved fingers were awkward! The giant Pooh Bear is another story altogether, but the image of a giant stuffed bear at the Pole was too good to pass up!

The camera continued on with Matt V.T. and then into the hands of Celine N, who brought it back home via Chile and Ireland.

We’re super excited to have been able to get a camera into the most extreme place on our planet, so thank you to everyone involved in getting the camera safely home. We hope you enjoy the images!

View the Camera 159 page for more details on its journey.

Camera 235 has been travelling around Singapore for the past 243 days, and has returned home with a batch of truly wonderful images.
Released in October 2009 by Shareen, the camera started its life at the opening of ‘thirtysix’, a local analogue camera shop – a perfect birth for the camera – there was even cake.

The camera moved around the city for a few months, and then we heard nothing of it until January of this year, when it was found again by Grace T, who finished off the film, and sent the camera back to the project.

Thanks to everyone who took part in the camera, and Eve T. for being our local project office and collecting the camera.
If you recognise any of the images, the people or locations in the photos, please add a comment to the Camera 235 page.

Camera 88 has returned home, and the images are now available to see online.
The camera was originally dropped in Austin, Texas USA by Mark S. back in April 2009. It was quickly picked up by Dan A. and friends, and taken on to the Eeyore birthday party, where it was handed over to Cassie F, who kindly developed the images for us.

Check out the Camera 88 page for the full details on its journey, and please comment if you know anything more about the people and places in the images.

NB. The images are currently fairly low-res, but we’ll be rescanning the negatives when they arrive for higher quality.

Camera 160 and Camera 162, two of the cameras taken to Greenland with Sally R. have returned home this weekend. Sally R. took them to the Science Centre near Kangerlussuaq whilst she was working out there, and handed them out to the teams going out on the icesheets. Collecting two of them before she left, the images show amazing snowy lands and the work being done out there. Two other cameras are still in Greeland, one has been picked up, and the other is still at the KISS Centre.

Thanks for Sally and everyone who took part in the camera.

Camera 73 has returned from Frankfurt, full of images which are now online. Originally left in the Main Cafe by Hanna R, the camera didn’t move around a great deal, as Nina R found it almost complete in the same location. It goes to show that you don’t need to move around to get great images!

Thanks to everyone who took part in this camera. If you know the people who feature in the images, let us know, and we’ll update the site!

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!

The images from Camera 38 are now online available for viewing. This camera is our fourth to be returned, as contains a mix of images from North London (see Archway Kebabs above!) to Cambodia, courtesy of Andrew G, who sent us this back.

The camera, in our reckoning has travelled 12,600 miles, so it has weathered well considering its journey. You can, as ever, see all of the images on the camera page, as well as our flickr group – where we’d love to hear your comments on the images, especially if you’re featured in any of them!

Camera 29:021_25A, originally uploaded by Disposable Memory Project.

We’ve had an email from Mike, who found Camera 29 after its drop in Venice Beach. He’s provided us a bit more information about the first and second images on the roll:

My name’s mike I found the camera on a park bench along the water at Venice Beach. My dad was in town from TX and he and I were doing a long bike ride from Pacific Palisades to Hollywood. The first pic is of the two of us. He was very intrigued by the project.

I took a picture of my rabbit Buddy Hollywood, then dropped the camera off at my group art show in Pasadena that night. Someone else took pix of the show.

What a great idea, I am so pleased it worked out!

Thanks for the update Mike, and if you know any of the people in the other images from Camera 29, please let us know.

Update: Mike sent us even more info about the later pictures on the roll, and its journey:

Btw The camera made it from Venice, ca to pasadena, ca then it made it’s way almost to the state line. Those windmills are on the way to palm springs.

Camera 29:018_2, originally uploaded by Disposable Memory Project.

Whoo! The images from our very first camera to be returned are now online in the flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/photos/disposablememoryproject/sets/72157612468305465/

Thanks to Melanie for creating the camera, and BlazeNFoote for sending it back, as well as everyone who featured in the images. We’ll be making more of the images on the Camera 29 page in due course.

If you took any of the photos, or appear in them, or can even help us identify location, email us, or comment on the images in flickr or below, and we’ll update the images to help tell their story.