I had a few photography incidents recently that made me think about how photography fits into people's lives:
- A friend was driving me home, and had her phone in her lap. At a stoplight, she showed the instagram photo she'd been looking at. (That phone was confiscated for the rest of the trip.)
- I needed a photo of myself, and the only good ones I could find were self portraits. (In a past life I was a photographer).
- I went to dinner at another friend's house and she was lamenting the amazing lives of far-away friends she was seeing on social media. I told her my photography mantra: No one takes photos when they're really engaged with the people around them. Some people can remind themselves to take photos when they want to capture a great time, but it generally takes everyone out of the moment.
I used these observations to play around with an idea for a photo service that I find simultaneously terrifying and... kind of cool.
FOTO: an app for crowdsourcing photos
Kate is bummed
She can't find any good photos of herself from the last few months. Everyone else has such great photos!
#FOTO
Kate notices a new hashtag. She thought all these people typing #FOTO were just trying to seem European, but it looks like this is a photo app...
Kate downloads FOTO
She takes a selfie
To get started. That way, the app knows who to look for.
She chooses her options
Kate is going out with friends tonight, and thinks she can get a few good group shots at the bar. She turns on camera detection, and likes the idea that she can hide herself with "Invisibility mode" if any of the girls get out of hand.
Kate and her friends have a great time
And none of them are taking constant selfies!
She picks her favorites
On her way home, Kate looks at the crowdsourced photos from the bar, and picks some to save.
Kate never has to worry about getting good photos again
There will always be cameras around!
