Buzz
Cameras have had a profound impact on society, from chronicling important events to disrupting careers. They encapsulate entire stories in a single image or video, serving as both a means of preserving memories and as powerful communication tools. Here are ten intriguing and unconventional ways cameras have been used.
10. Capture Your Eating Patterns
Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu, a renowned Japanese inventor, is credited with holding the world record for the most inventions, including the floppy disk, digital watch, Cinemascope, and the taxicab meter. He is widely recognized, having appeared on various American shows like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and Late Night with David Letterman. Dr. Nakamatsu earned the 2005 Ig Nobel Prize (an award celebrating accomplishments that ‘first make people laugh, and then make them think’) in Nutrition. His unique achievement? For over 34 years, he has documented every meal he's eaten, carefully analyzing the nutritional content of his diet. His aim? To live a remarkable 144 years.
9. Preserve a Moment in Time
Every Day is an ongoing visual project by U.S. artist Karl Baden, where he photographs his face daily. It began on February 23, 1987, and continues to the present day. According to Baden, the project's inspiration comes from ‘vectors of curiosity and distress’ linked to four key factors that shaped his life: mortality, gradual change, obsession (relating to the psyche and art), and the contrast between perfection and ‘being human.’
To document this ‘slice of life,’ Baden used the same setup for all portraits: a camera mounted on a tripod, strobe lighting, and a white backdrop. His face is consistently positioned in the center, under identical lighting, with subtle variations in expression that reflect his mood or personality.
Throughout the project, Baden often assembles his photos into installations. A notable example is 10x10x10, a collection of eleven framed images taken 10 months apart, starting on October 10, 1987. These were displayed alongside a book at the Robert Mann Gallery in New York from September 7 to October 31, 1995. Additionally, in May 2007, he showcased 7,305 contact prints of his self-portraits to commemorate the project's 20th anniversary.
8. Act as a Memory Helper
Have you ever experienced those frustrating moments when you forget where you left your car keys or the TV remote? With Cyber Goggles, those days are over. Developed by researchers at the University of Tokyo, the Cyber Goggles feature a compact camera and an LCD screen attached to the goggles, connected to a small ‘intelligent’ computer strapped to your back. To use them, simply focus the camera on an object you wish to locate later, such as your car keys, and speak the object’s name. The computer will save the image and link it to the object’s name. When you need to find the item, just say its name, and the computer will search its database, find the matching image, and display it on the screen.
While the goggles have some technical limitations, the technology shows significant promise for the future of robotics. The image recognition feature could play a crucial role in creating robots that are more human-like. Although these goggles aren't yet available for purchase, they represent an exciting application of cutting-edge technology.
7. Become ‘Invisible’
In 2003, three professors from the University of Tokyo demonstrated the possibility of achieving invisibility—well, sort of. Using a highly complex setup involving optical camouflage technology, Susumu Tachi, Masahiko Inami, and Naoki Kawakami created the illusion of invisibility. The process involves a video camera, a computer linked to a projector, and a special reflective coat. The camera, placed behind the coat, records the background scenery, which is then fed into the computer and projected onto the front of the coat, creating the illusion that the wearer is invisible. It’s like seeing through the coat—instant invisibility! Well, kind of.
6. Keep an Eye on Your Cat
Cats are natural explorers, often leading their owners to wonder where they’ve gone. This curiosity inspired Jurgen Perthold and his cat, Mr. Lee, to come up with the CatCam. This 2-1/2 oz. camera, attached to Mr. Lee’s collar, captures photos every minute for two days, recording his feline adventures. The images show Mr. Lee mingling with other cats, investigating the neighborhood, hiding under cars, strolling through gardens, and even encountering a snake. The photos of Mr. Lee’s exploits quickly went viral through Perthold’s website, sparking a trend where other cat owners attached CatCams to their pets to document their own cats’ adventures.
5. Illuminate the Brooklyn Bridge
Improv Everywhere, a New York City-based performance art collective, is known for creating ‘scenes of chaos and joy in public spaces.’ Their pranks, referred to as ‘missions,’ take place across various New York locations. Some of their well-known missions include freezing in place at Grand Central Station, riding the subway without pants, and swarming a Best Buy store dressed as employees, among others.
One of their more striking missions was the Camera Flash experiment. In May 2008, just a week before the 125th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge, 700 agents from Improv Everywhere lined the entire bridge, simultaneously flashing their cameras to create a stunning wave of light that swept across the span. Despite the rain, the mission was successful, though few people had the chance to witness the spectacle up close.
4. Create Performance Art
Li Wei, a contemporary artist from Beijing, China, blends performance art with photography in his breathtaking works. His series of photos often shows him in seemingly impossible, death-defying situations. For instance, he created a photo series depicting himself as if he were pushed off a skyscraper, plummeting to the ground. Another shocking series portrays him landing headfirst on various surfaces, including sidewalks, car windshields, and water. In fact, many of Li Wei’s photographs feature him, and occasionally other models, defying gravity in some way. Most of these illusions are made possible through the use of invisible steel wires, special mirrors, and Wei’s own acrobatic prowess.
3. Photograph Large Groups of Nude Bodies
American artist Spencer Tunick is renowned for his work in ‘capturing the live nude figure in public settings.’ He is best known for creating installations that feature large groups of nude people arranged in various artistic poses across diverse public locations. Tunick’s unique artistic journey began in New York in 1992, where he started with individual nude figures or small groups. By 1994, he expanded his focus to large groups of nude bodies, capturing them in temporary sites both within the U.S. and internationally.
Since then, his installations have been exhibited worldwide, particularly in Europe and South America. His largest project involved photographing 18,000 nudes arranged in Mexico City’s central Zocalo square on May 6, 2007, surpassing his previous record of 7,000 participants in Barcelona. Tunick is also frequently hired by various groups for special installations, such as when he organized 600 nudes to create a living sculpture on the Aletsch Glacier, in partnership with Greenpeace, to highlight global warming's impact on glaciers on August 18, 2007.
2. Create Living Artworks
Arthur Mole, an English commercial artist, became renowned for his series of 'living pictures' where thousands of soldiers formed iconic American symbols. These compositions, created during World War I, were photographed from an 80-foot tower using a standard camera. Mole, assisted by his partner John Thomas, would typically spend around a week planning each image. He directed the soldiers to position themselves according to sketches made on the camera lens. Afterward, assistants would use lace to trace the outline and calculate how many soldiers were needed to bring the image to life.
Among Mole’s most celebrated works are the Human U.S. Shield, created with 30,000 men, the Human Liberty Bell, featuring 25,000 soldiers, the Human Statue of Liberty, made with 18,000 troops, and a portrait of then-President Woodrow Wilson, composed of 21,000 soldiers.
1. Cover an Entire Van with Art
Harrod Blank, an American artist known for his ‘art car’ creations, played a pivotal role in launching the 'art car' movement in the U.S. ‘Art cars’ are vehicles whose exteriors have been transformed for artistic expression. In 1995, combining his passions for art cars and photography, Blank covered a 1972 Dodge van with 2,000 cameras, strategically placing ten working cameras inside that could be controlled from the dashboard. He then drove the van through the streets of New York City, capturing over 5,000 photographs for his exhibit titled ‘I’ve Got A Vision.’
