First, a brief introduction to cameramail.
The idea is not completely original, I'm sorry to admit. While working on a mail-art project for school, I saw Daniel Farrell and Richard Kegler of the website P22 document an impressive number of odd forms of correspondence between their two addresses in upstate New York. One of the last experiments displayed on their site was a camera attached to a postcard and plastered with stamps. Taking a good idea and running with it, I began to mail cameras to various locations. This project is still ongoing. Click on the cameras to view their photos.

*EDIT* There is now a tips page on sending your own cameramail.

The First Cameramail



On November 30th, 2003, an oversized postcard holding one disposable camera and a roll of 800 ASA, 27 exposure film was mailed from Lafayette, IN to Santa Monica, CA. A few days later, the postman knocked on the door of my friend and found him answering in his underwear. He did not understand the statement: "The Post Master wants to know why you are mailing cameras." as he had no prior knowlege of this delivery. Approximately 14 of the 27 shots arrived intact, all of which were taken at the Lafayette post office. As you can see, later editions of the project were cleaned up. View the photos here.





** A camera was mailed to Portland, Oregon to my friends at Bonnie Heart Clyde, but A.) hardly any photos were taken before they received it and B.) those photos currently reside in Indiana. I'll try to track those down for you soon.**



On March 3rd, 2004, cameramail was sent my friend Geoff in Baltimore, MD. Like the first, the roll arrived unfinished, but for once not broken. Geoff proceeded to finish off the roll at his leisure. Only the camera's initial travel is provided. View the photos here.

 

 

On March 18th, 2004, a second cameramail was sent my friend Geoff in Baltimore. This was meant to be a project for himself and the photo class he was student-teaching.. The camera had been loaded with Tri-X black and white film. Again, only a few photos were taken by the time he received the package. He never processed the roll with his students, unfortunately. I opted not to display the photos taken by the students after its arrival. Sorry. View the photos here.




(pictured front and back)

Mailed just before Christmas, 2004, this camera was sent to Justin of chromogenic.net in Portland, OR. This was a good one. You can read his take on it. View the photos here.


Remember, this is an ongoing project. Check back for more updates, or contact kvh for tips on sending your own cameramail.

*EDIT* There is now a tips page! Please be sure to e-mail me if yours is even half as successful as mine.

Also, please visit C-41. My daily photo page.