A Disposable Film Project package traveled over the Atlantic Ocean and has safely arrived in England. Thanks to Klem for taking an interest in the project! His perspective will add an interesting dimension.

In other news, the Disposable Film Project is officially 3 months old. Lara and I are in the process of doing status checks on the packages floating around the U.S.

Updates are forthcoming.

Can you remember the last time you used a disposable camera? I can. In fact, I took some photographs on a disposable camera this past weekend. You see, I have a group of friends who almost solely use disposable cameras. Like them, I too have an appreciation for the past. Every crank and click brings me back to my childhood.

Some of you may have grown up in the age of digital photography. For the rest of us, our family albums are full of glossy 3×5 and 4×6 photographs. The grainy images excite me. I remember going to the nearest drug store with my mom to drop off used disposable cameras. After 5-7 [short] days, we would pick them up and shuffle through a trip to Seattle, a family gathering, or one of my many school functions.

Despite my digital photography background, I’m an advocate for the disposable film camera. I’ve been using a 27-exposure camera over the past two months, capturing various social activities (some of you may call such activities “drinking” or “bar hopping”). That camera is the first disposable camera I have used in over 10 years. No matter how old I am, I’m still excited to drop it off at a nearby drug store, have the photographs developed, and shuffle through the grainy, glossy images. I’m excited to hold those memories in my hands like I did when I was ten.

For your viewing pleasure (since we still haven’t received a DFP package), enjoy some disposable camera classics from my past:

Driving in Seattle, Washington.

Pike Market in Seattle, Washington.

At the top of Diamond Head (volcano), overlooking Waikiki, Hawaii.

Water spout on Kauai, Hawaii.

Okay, so this photograph wasn’t taken on the disposable camera. But you have to appreciate the graininess of film (and the fact that I’m chilling with some sheep).

Been a while since you’ve visited the site.

How’ve you been?

What’s that, you keep forgetting Jen and I started a phenomenal project and you want to find a way to stay in the loop on our few-and-far-between updates?

Done!

We get it. We’re not the kind of blog with a new post every day.  We understand that we might drop off your radar pretty quickly. But here’s the thing: we want to make sure you don’t forget about us while we wait patiently for our country-crossing disposable cameras to return.

Let’s be honest: you’ll probably forget about us. 

And that’s okay, really! It is!  We’re totally confident enough to deal with that.  We just want to make sure you’ll have a reminder in your inbox so you know when it’s time to visit for a Project Update.  Could be weeks, or months, or years, until we get our cameras back…if we get our cameras back.

But let’s stay positive!

Here’s how to follow us if you don’t have a WordPress account:

Step 1: Click the “Follow” button in the lower right-hand corner of your screen.

Step 2: Enter your e-mail address.

Step 3: Finished!  Now all you’ve got to do is wait anxiously for our next update. Hourly refreshing of your e-mail inbox is optional.

Here’s how to follow us if you do have a WordPress account:

First. Log in. Of course. Then click the “Follow” button, and we’ll be added to the list of blogs you keep an eye on. If you’re a smart cookie, you’ll bookmark this page so you always have easy access to the latest blogging goodness from your WordPress friends.

Y’all come back now, ya hear?

I mailed a second batch of packages yesterday. There are now a total of 11 Disposable Film Project packages floating around the United States.

The recipients are as follows:

Jackie – Oxford, Mississippi

Kasey – Los Angeles, California

Blair – Charleston, South Carolina

Once again, thank you to all of our participants. Lara and I don’t know when we will receive our first packages. Hopefully you are just as eager as we are to see the results!

-Jen

[False. Only one of us understands that each chapter will take months to complete. The other one has already started checking her mailbox with hope in her heart.]

While Lara and I [patiently] wait for packages to arrive, we’re both working on other elements of the Disposable Film Project.

I recently discovered a project founded in New York by Katie O’Beirne. New York Shots, a movement that revolves around leaving a disposable film camera in a public park, allows a participant to share the sights of their city. By leaving the camera unattended, participants have the ability to be creative and share their perspective of the public space.

Once I learned about the camera launching movement, I immediately wanted to incorporate the method into the Disposable Film Project. I brought the idea to Lara hoping she would have a similar reaction. After some dialogue, we were both left with the same question: Would veering off course ultimately dilute the purpose of the Disposable Film Project?

The answer is no. If you strip away the method for capturing photographs, New York Shots and the Disposable Film Project share the same goal – to connect lives. By extending the methods to capture and share connections, the Disposable Film Project increases its reach and overall impact. More methods means more cameras. More cameras means more photographs. More photographs means more fodder for the viewers to analyze and digest.

The Disposable Film Project will serve as an umbrella, housing various techniques for capturing life. Each method will showcase a unique perspective. The About section has been updated to reflect the project growth.

-Jen

On an unrelated (yet still related) note, I have received a few inquiries about how the Disposable Film Project came into fruition. Some background information on Lara and myself: we have never met in person. Is that the twist you were expecting? No? Fine.

Lara is from Wisconsin and attended St. Norbert College in De Pere. My high school classmate, Sarah, is from South Carolina and attended Winthrop University in Rock Hill. Lara and Sarah studied abroad together in Ireland. Upon returning home from the land of Guinness and soda bread, the two kept in touch via social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook. After creepily “following” Lara for a month or so, I decided to actually follow her. The rest is history.

You see, we have a lot more in common than meets the eye. We both like cheese, speak sarcasm, and Lara’s complex mind balances out my simple mind.

After discussing Halloween festivities and the type of camera I wanted to sport with my Asian tourist costume, Lara mentioned thrifting other people’s photographs. If you purchased a film camera containing partially used film, how interesting would it be to finish off the roll, develop the film, and share the photographs?

An idea was conceived and moments later the Disposable Film Project was born. It was a healthy 7 pounds, 8 ounces – in case you were wondering.

-Jen

I’m almost ready to go: I’ve got boxes, cameras, and…more cameras. Walked up to the Entertainment department in Target yesterday, and said, “Hey, here’s a request you haven’t heard in ten years: where can I find your disposable cameras?”

“Actually,” he said, “someone asked just last week. They’re at the back.”

I’ll be damned. Who buys a disposable camera anymore? (Maybe people who just like to hear the high-pitched whine of the flash warming up. I can’t deny it, that’s a great sound. Brings back all sorts of memories from middle school.)

I’m sending my first batch of cameras to folks in the following cities:

Milwaukee. Chicago. Washington, DC. Charleston.

You know who you are. Take good pictures, and pass the cameras on to responsible individuals that won’t take full-body nude shots.

-Lara

Thank you to my amazing friends and family for your support thus far. To be completely honest, Lara and I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without you. Maybe I’ll name my first born after one of you. Maybe.

The first round of DFP packages are almost ready to go:

Initially, I will be mailing 4 packages from Charleston, South Carolina. The recipients are as follows:

1. Irene (Greenville, South Carolina)

2. Rachael (Memphis, Tennessee)

3. Liz (Atlanta, Georgia)

4. Lynn (Wilmington, North Carolina)

While it seems as though I am solely covering the South, I guarantee all four chapters will have extremely different outcomes.

-Jen

You’ll know you’ve been selected to participate in the Project if a box bearing our logo arrives on your doorstep. What you should find in each box:

-Shipping labels with our Disposable Film project logo.

-Blank labels.

-Camera.

-Guidelines.

-Tracking card.

When you open the box, don’t go Hulk on the damn thing. If you slice open the tape like a civilized human being, you save yourself the $1.99 it would cost to buy a new box at Office Max.

Take your pictures, fill out the tracking card, and return everything to the box. Write the address of the next participant on the logo-ed shipping label, stick it on the box, and cover the cancelled stamps with a blank label. Seal the whole thing up. (You’ll have to provide your own tape, but fear not: if you look forlornly at most post office employees, they’ll seal it up for you.)

Take the whole shebang to your local post office and ship it out. Don’t get fancy with “Express Mail” or “tracking numbers.” Just send it as “First Class mail” and the box will find its way to your intended destination.

Like me, you might be wondering, “What if the packages get lost or destroyed by wild dogs? How can we put faith in humanity like this?”

Well, I don’t know. In all honesty, I’d be heartbroken if we didn’t get a single package back in a couple months. So, what can Jen & I do but keep our fingers crossed? I think I’ll try to set some good karma in motion. For the next few weeks, drinks are on me.

-Lara

Now that the logo has been finalized, Lara and I will have a rad graphic to serve as a letterhead for our tracking sheet and guidelines. The logo will also be worked into the shipping label design.

I took my list of potential contacts and began sending out informational e-mails. The Disposable Film Project will fail if we lack participants so I wanted to test the waters. The group varies in age, occupation, and, most importantly, geographic location. So far, the feedback has been great.

Thank you to everyone who has electronically committed to making the project a success!

Lara is roaming around here somewhere. Expect a Project Update from her soon.

-Jen