Meantime

In the summer of 2008 I had one of those artistic crises in which I questioned what I was really doing. In order to clear my head I left the house and walked to the nearby park. I took an old disposable camera with me. I ambled without any particular direction until I came to a spot on a hill in the long grass. There, without any real plan, I knelt down and took a photo. Using the timer on my watch I took the same photo again a minute later, and then again a minute after that, and on and on until I had finished the whole roll. Then, using my hands, I dug a hole in the mud where I had stood and buried the camera.

At the time it seemed to me a suitable catharsis. Knowingly leaving something behind symbolised, for me, starting anew. Well, since then I have made this is a general practice. Whenever I go somewhere special I try to bury another camera. The project aims to make concrete the idea of a lasting memory, and embody the idea of leaving something behind both conceptually and physcially. More than anything it gives me an excuse to return to some beautiful places. No single camera has a fixed life in the ground. The theory is that I will eventually return to collect them all at some point or another. The inherent risk that someone else might get there before me is as much a part of the project as anything, and for the most part each camera has my contact details somewhere on it.

To date there are 7 cameras in the ground, spanning a total of three different countries. So far I have collected 2 cameras.

UPDATE: I have now opened this project to the public. If you would like to participate, send an email to frederick (at) fmjbotham.co.uk and I will give you instructions and send you a camera.

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