3:00 snapshot, #1:

[urbpan]

In case it wasn't abundantly clear from the large number of posts I've been spamming you with over the past two days, I'm taking a couple days off work. I hope it is more positive than negative to see so much of my output.

I thought I might start posting snapshots--as distinct from other kinds of photography--each day or nearly so. Snapshots, I believe, are under-appreciated. Photography can exist as fine art, as a documentary form, or, as I usually use it, as an illustrative medium. But snapshots--those informal point and shoot moments that capture holidays and vacations, friends and relatives, and mundane scenery--preserve the world as it really is. Vintage and historical photographs are most valuable and fascinating when they inadvertently catch details about the world that the photographer never intended. The camera differs from the paintbrush in that it sees and records every object and view with the same importance. The more snapshots we leave for the future, the more the people of the future will understand our time.

Some time ago I set my watch alarm to go off at 3:00 p.m. I don't have any pressing appointment then, it just seemed like a good time to be aware of what time it is. When I was thinking about a snapshot project today, I thought I should root it in time somehow, then I remembered my watch alarm, which goes off every day at three in the afternoon, for no real reason. So I decided, when it goes off, wherever I happen to be, I will pick up my camera and take a snapshot. Then I'll post it here. I don't have any other restrictions on myself, no duration, no obligations; if I don't have my watch on, if I don't have my camera with me, if my batteries have died, then there's no snapshot that day. I hope these weak parameters allow the project to be interesting anyway. We'll find out!

Comments

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

yay!

[antarcticlust.livejournal.com]

I think this is a wonderful idea, and definitely agree that the snap-shot is undervalued. Some of my favorite photographs are those vintage shots of the "mundane." But then, I've always had a special reverence for the mundane...

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

also, i wonder how many pictures of your penis you'll end up with? :)

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

There's always something more interesting than that around. :)

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

speak for yourself! :p

[fly-home.livejournal.com]

I have the same computer, and I thought it waas just mine that got so dirty at the bottom so quickly, but yours seems to be the same way.
Hi five mac users!

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

What's the logic in making a machine, that you have your hands on all the time, white?

[fly-home.livejournal.com]

agreed!
i've tried to clean mine off, but it just doesn't seem to want to leave.
Oh well I guess, it doesn't make me love my computer any less.

[miekec]

I think this was the number one complaint after it came out. All of them have this problem - some combination of the natural oils on your hands and the type of plastic, I think. Many apple sites/blogs had long discussions on it; maybe there is a way to clean it (I just haven't bothered)

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't taken a snapshot of it!

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

I love this idea! If I had a camera, I'd join in.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

What, no camera? :( I'd be lost at sea.

[barbmg.livejournal.com]

I l-o-v-e this idea. I lurv it. I loaf it.

Lots.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

You should steal it, babe. I'd love to see what you are up to more regularly!

[barbmg.livejournal.com]

I should do something like it. I'll have to modify it somewhat.

I can't wear a watch most of the time, and I'm usually at work at three o'clock. I'm sure a lot of my clients would be startled to hear the clicking of a camera shutter!

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

wait til you get back to your desk then :)

#

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Oh! Is there something there? ;) Do you want me to send you some money?

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

yes. there is :> the barred owls were no help though, no extra mice for them :)

you can send it, or i can visit the crow again, or you can tie the $5 to the crow and have the crow visit.

#

[mas69ter.livejournal.com]

This is a pretty neat idea! I like it and just may copy it. With a different time though. At 3:00 I'm almost always staring at a pop machine. That would get redundant.

The kitty cat is very pretty. We brought in a stray with coloring like that once. She had kittens under my bed in fifth grade and one of them was her clone. After most of the kittens were given away, she disappeared.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Thanks! There are a bunch of people doing daily photo posts; I think they're a great idea for livejournal--they really keep everyone up to date on life, weather, changes, etc.--and it's such a visual platform. Let me know if you end up doing it, I'd like to see!

Mollie is a pretty cat, and I almost never photograph her for some reason.

[ms-vanilla.livejournal.com]

FANTASTIC idea.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I owe it all to my watch.

[taniwhanui.livejournal.com]

Look forward to seeing what you come up with ... oh and your cat is very pretty, btw. (:

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I think it'll be interesting.

She is a pretty cat! She really belongs to cottonmanifesto, but we've grown to have a relationship of sorts. She asks me for catnip, and to turn the sink on so she can drink out of it (after barging in on me when I'm in the bathroom).

[lauraxmarie.livejournal.com]

What a great idea :) I'd totally steal it if I thought I'd actually stick to it. Hehe.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

thanks! I think it's worth it even if you don't hold to it religiously.

[bitter-moss.livejournal.com]

Great idea, I've been meaning to do something similar for a while now...

[interfecta.livejournal.com]

You know, I recently stumbled over somebody's photoblog in which she pledged two pictures per morning each morning for the rest of the year. A quick skim over her previous work showed that they were consistently NAUSEATINGLY beautiful. Nobody, no matter how talented, can possibly produce obnoxiously perfect pictures of rumpled beds and empty breakfast dishes every morning for a year.

What I'm trying to say is, I look forward to your snapshots.

[by-steph.livejournal.com]

That blog sounds really interesting. Do you think she would mind if you shared her username?

[by-steph.livejournal.com]

I think the 3:00 photo is a great idea. I think it's a perfect routine, but without the pressure of the 365 project. I just wanted to point out the Massachusetts donut in the photo. It's a disease you know? It really, really is.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

To be fair, it's a cheese covered bagel, from Au Bon Pain, the upscale Dunkin Donuts.