Snapshot in Time, 2020.

Using processing, we created a digital photobooth that allows users to “time-travel” through the history of cameras. Drawing from the analog aesthetic that’s returning to popular photography, we wanted to allow people to explore the different ways we’ve tried to capture what we see, starting with the most primitive form of the original camera. Several effects in this “photobooth” include: camera obscura, digital camera, disposable camera, and 3D film.

The original inspiration behind this work is the natural phenomenon of the camera obscura effect, or pinhole imaging. The camera obscura effect occurs when “light from a scene passes through the aperture and projects an inverted image on the opposite side”. We wanted to build upon this natural phenomenon to deliver a personalized experience of reimagining what we see. Our first prototype was a physical camera obscura, projected in a mini “theater” setting in a box a viewer peers into. As instruction and collaboration moved online, we adapted by using the digital medium of processing, and created a digital exhibit and interactive experience that could be replicable across machines.