Disposable Europe

June 23, 2008 at 4:16 am Leave a comment

We take pictures to supplement our visual memories. Aside from sheer artistic and aesthetic merit, no one needs convincing that pictures we take remind us of people, places, and things. I’ve heard that when we take pictures, it limits and focuses our memories, but it’s easy to give that up for the joy of fondly remembering something from a snapshot. Anyone who has ever had a camera stolen knows what a terrible feeling that can be. More after the jump.

Well, my camera was stolen, and then Mia’s was stolen. But before I left Rome, I bought three disposable cameras. Using a disposable in 2008 is odd. The selection is more purposeful, and the physical act of winding and snapping is far more dramatic. I took one and a half rolls in Madrid, and then the rest throughout Europe. In some places I only took one or two pictures, because Mia was covering it on her digital camera. But after Brussels I picked up the slack.

I recently developed the cameras at Rite-Aid and got the CDs so I wouldn’t have to scan them in. The quality is surprising. At times the lack of light devastates the picture and it others the odd saturation brings a surreal and warm quality. More than people, places, and things, some of these pictures have emotional weight. I uploaded every picture without manipulation and assembled them all in a set on flickr. Disposable; no more no less. A noble experiment, but it’s time to buck up and buy the digital SLR.