On May 3, TheGirl released a couple of cameras out into the wild in Colorado. And a few days after that, Gail left a comment on Camera #148 saying that her son found it outside his work, and had already finished it and stuck it in the mail. Well, it’s made it here!

Judging by the pictures, he likes Jagermeister. And… is that Call of Duty 4? Can’t quite tell…

Unfortunately, a lot of the pics were underexposed… I did my best colour-correcting to get them to look as good as possible.

West-Side Reprezentin.

On Wednesday, I went to Granville Island to film an interview on the project for BCIT Magazine. My first press!

We were down there for a few hours doing multiple takes and getting the right shots. Part of the story involved me placing a camera. Not only was this camera filmed while being placed, it was also the hundredth camera of the project – both in position, and ID number. Happy Hundredth Camera!

The crew wanted to film the camera from a distance to capture someone finding it and taking it away. We hid in a dark corner, hoping that no one would see the group of people around the TV camera on the big tripod.

I’ve never actually stuck around and watched what happens after I place a camera – although, when I placed Camera #71, I was still packing groceries into the rental when a couple of guys found it and exclaimed. I had to pretend as hard as I could that it wasn’t me!

It was definitely an interesting opportunity to watch and see what unfolds around a placed camera. It helped me to understand what happens to the cameras that never come back – no one notices them! We were in the corner for about 15-20 minutes, and then we moved to another area for another half hour to finish getting some other shots, and, for the most part, no one even saw it. Everyone walked by in oblivion. A few people saw it and glanced at it before carrying on, and fewer still picked it up to look at it before putting it back where they found it.

Then, finally, salvation… A group of about 50 school children on a field trip walked by. They chose to swarm the area where the camera was to sit and eat their sandwiches. Certainly, someone would pick it up, right? Wrong. Barely anyone even noticed it! One of the accompanying parents sat down beside it, finally noticed it, picked it up, examined it closely, then set it back down.

Around this time, we finished filming, and parted ways. I went back home, and, as far as I know, the camera is still there, being pelted with rain…

The BCIT magazine story has been posted on YouTube for everyone to check out. You can watch it below, or on YouTube.

These two lovely packages were released into the wild yesterday in Colorado by The Girl. She definitely pulled out all the stops to make them as attractive and enticing as possible – they’re way nicer than anything I’ve ever put out there. Kudos!

#148 was dropped at the outdoor seating area of Poor Richards (indy pizzeria and book store) on the corner of Tejon and Boulder in downtown Colorado Springs.

#149 was dropped on a bench in the fountain area in front of The Loop Mexican Restaurant on the corner of Ruxton and Manitou in downtown Manitou Springs.

The Girl had this to say:

I had an entourage with me so that I wasn’t so obvious when walking down the street and leaving something behind. The second one was more of a drive by situation. I was let out of a van, dropped it and then walked away to be picked up down the street.

Sounds exciting!

Thanks go to The Girl!

I’m in a bowling league, and I’ve been thinking for a while that it would be a good place to put a camera – I just never had the right opportunity. Until now. On Monday, we stayed for to roll some extra balls after the league bowling finished at the Grandview Lanes. Shortly thereafter, the place was packed with hipsters, rolling their way to strikes. I thought that it would be now or never. It seemed like there would be a good chance that whoever found it would partake – hipsters are always into taking part in freaky-deaky projects.

I just needed a spot that would allow me to place a camera without anyone seeing it, plus be somewhere that people would go, and it would be obvious. The bathroom! I went and put Camera #94 near the urinal in the men’s room – dudes severely outnumbered the ladies, and many of the ladies that were there were just getting ready to leave.

A few minutes later, I saw an excited bowler showing the package to his friends. Mission Accomplished.

I went out for lunch today to The Foundation, and I thought to myself that the young hipsters who are into vegan/vegetarianism would probably also be into taking part in the project – it worked in Bellingham. So, I left Camera #93 under the table before leaving.

One day last summer, I went to the ol’ mailbox to see if there were any new cameras. Instead of a bulky envelope full of visual surprises, I found the above envelope from The City of New York Police Department.

My heart jumped – this was the moment in a post-9/11 world that I knew would come, especially in a post-9/11 New York. Boston didn’t take too kindly to ads placed near roadways, why would New York react any differently to anonymously placed packages left all over the city?

And, of course, since there is nothing of an identifying nature on the package, the only thing they could do was send their Cease and Desist letter – with the appropriate “We will follow up on this terror threat until you are tracked down. We hope you enjoy Guantanamo Bay” note included – to the address included in each package. There’d be no other course of action – such as looking at the Whois information for the domain name, or contacting Canada Post for ownership information.

So, I took a deep breath, and opened the envelope. All of my fears were laid to rest when I discovered it was a letter from the “Manhattan Property Clerk” letting me know that my property had been found, and I had 3 possible methods of getting it back.

After I was put at ease, I became amazed at the diligence of the Manhattan Property Clerk. I’m quite certain that if something was lost here in Vancouver and was turned into the city, it would just be tossed into the lost and found box and forgotten.

The sad thing is, this camera will definitely never come back. It has now been “disposed of Pursuant to law.” The question is, which camera is it? I think it’s Camera #68. After it was placed, I got the following note:

After I left #68 and walked a couple hundred feet to the gate, a security officer entered the park! I kept walking and turned around further in the distance to see him do a double take on the package! You should have seem him scour the park for a suspect! Not a mom with 2 kids and a stroller far off in the distance outside the park! Unfortunately he did pick up the package and at that point I descended back into the subway. Sorry about this one. I’m hoping that maybe someone along the security line might be tempted to do something with it!

The best we can hope for now is that someone finds it in a dump before it gets burned and sends it in. I have a feeling that’s not happening.

At the end of January, I got a message through the website from some people in Alaska who had found Camera #88 in Tok last summer. They took a bunch of photos and sent it back 2 weeks later.

It never arrived.

It’s sad to hear this, not just because I don’t get to see the pics and post them online for everyone else, but also because they took the time to take pictures and send them in, and they don’t even get to see the results of their efforts.

Postal System, why have you foresaken us?

The Hammer just contacted me to let me know that Camera #96 has been left at the Peer Helping Resource Centre at the University of Victoria in Victoria, BC.

It’s pretty obvious that this camera needs some help! Please do so.

I have some sort of mind block when it comes to placing cameras on a regular basis. I seem to only place them when I am on some sort of trip/excursion. Unfortunately, this means that, even though I spend the majority of my time in Vancouver, it is severely under-represented.

For example, near the beginning of the project, I was in San Francisco for 2 days and left 4 cameras. The project has been going on for almost a year and a half, and, as of last week, only 3 cameras had been placed in Metro Vancouver. It’s not that there’s no where to place cameras in Vancouver – I just never think of it.

As an aside, none of the cameras left in San Francisco, or Metro Vancouver have made it back.

What this all results in, is that my participation in the project only grows when I go away. So, I’ve recently made a pact to place at least one camera a month, whether I am in Vancouver or not. To help this, I have decided to carry around one or more cameras in my pannier at all times. Since I cycle somewhat regularly, I should have a camera with me most of the time.

This came in handy last week when I was at The Persian Tea House with some friends. It dawned on me that I had a camera with me, so I placed Camera #95 at the table, hopefully in a spot where the next people to visit would see it.