JPG Magazine (Toss It?)

I guess one of the behaviors of the new genre of subscriber/reader driven content and publishing in the magazine industry is the inevitability of covering the same topic more than once. ;-)



JPG Magazine, which did a story (including interviews) on Camera Tossing in it's formative youth (Issue 6), has pushed another Camera Toss article amusingly titled Get Fresh With Us: "Toss Your Camera" in Issue 16. Apparently JPG thinks seconds are fresher than firsts? This one however takes the form of a very brief photo challenge posed to it's readers/photographers online, and a selection of voted/edited picks of the result. Basically it's the magazine version of my "Pool Picks" postings except with JPG contributers being the "pool", and without really providing any instructive context, history, or origins for the readers and contributors. Ironically there was a user contributed howto article on the subject linked from the challenge pages, but all that content was left unpublished in the printed article.

In it's original posted form, their challenge didn't even get the concept/definition of a Camera Toss correct. I mean really folks, it's not that complicated. A couple of senior members in our community took it upon themselves to get them to at least honor the original concept and change the challenge criteria. Viewing the incoming submissions it became clear that many of their contributors were also missing the point, so a handful of our 5,000+ community members took it upon themselves to submit high quality camera tosses in an effort to notch up the presentation of the concept. Even still, the final published selection included some that were obviously not a thrown camera. But, almost all who submitted from our community made the published version. Congrats to them and way to show solidarity, something this labor union member/advocate certainly appreciates! ;-)



(Left: by David Hull, Right: by Christian Kinzler, Lower: by Marce Garal)

Please don't read this post as a criticism of the photos/photographers actually published. Most were indeed camera tosses and many quite interesting to look at. I just feel the methodology for coming up with the content in the first place left a little bit to be desired in the way of substance and professionalism.

Many JPG articles were great back in the days before they restructured, and some of them continue to be quite good, but I came away from this feeling like they just needed some space filler? Which, in itself is fine, but if you wish to showcase a technique, you should either give some great instructions or display some top quality work (ideally both?). Why else would you publish it, unless, perhaps your only aim is to make your own contributors (a.k.a. paying subscribers) feel good about themselves?

So three cheers to Derek and Heather for honoring our little niche of the photography universe with their original article, instructions, and interviews! (View online here) This second time around? Not so much.

As for the current editorial staff of JPG Magazine. If you wish to produce "fresh" content. Figure out a way to get your article/theme contributors to do their homework. A little tried and true journalism wouldn't hurt either. I'm sure you would have had an amazing spread if you popped into our forums and solicited the community to contribute (exactly what was done for the Issue 6 article).

How's that for "getting fresh with you"? ;-) Maybe by fresh you didn't mean "snarky". Oh well. ;-)

Links Related to this Posting:
Photo Challenge: Camera Toss (and all submissions)
Photo Challenge: Camera Toss (published contact-sheet)
JPG Magazine Issue 16
Unpublished JPG user contributed HOWTO
JPG Magazine Issue 6 Article (instructions, interviews, commentary)
Camera Toss Group on Flickr

Hello Hong Kong readers...

The first major publication of the concept on the Asian continent, that I am aware of, was in DC Photo Magazine (Hong Kong, China) this month.





There was some initial confusion in the interview/images process, where it took a while to explain that many of my earliest examples they were interested in publishing did not exist at resolutions higher than 640x480. They eventually became aware of the relationship of this technique to cheap equipment, and that the sizes available were somewhat to be expected due to this.

In a month or so I'll put the PDF's of this article online for Chinese visitors, but I'll wait till this issue has left the shelves.

Camera Toss on Die Zeit

Camera Toss on Die Zeit (www.zeit.de), originally uploaded by clickykbd.

Last week (4-26-2007) Die Zeit published a 13 page online gallery and article on the subject of Camera Tossing. They spoke to many and included a diverse range of photos from the community.

Interesting side story to this publication... Die Zeit is a respectable German news outlet, comparable to America's "New York Times". They had actually been interested in the subject of Camera Tossing a while back when I had the exhibition in Hamburg last year. A reporter came to the opening I had a chance to speak with her in person. She loved the subject... but I later learned that no story was going to be published because "Die Zeit" had backed away from the topic... deciding that it was "too trendy" for their audience. I admit it was being parleyed into a very trendy subject... but most of that was the fault of the German media itself, especially programs such as Polylux. heh.

A year later, they are back, and have published this piece. Perhaps avoiding "trends" simply means consciously choosing not to discuss topics while everyone else is doing so too. I sometimes avoid going to certain movies for the same reason... no matter how much I end up enjoying it when I finally do see them.

Anyone who knows me in person, knows i'm one of the LEAST trendy individuals you'll likely ever meet, so I found the irony quite amusing.

Coverage: Tages Anzeiger (Zurich)

The Zurich newspaper "Tages Anzeiger" contacted me last week requesting a photo for publication along with their article about Camera Toss. I haven't seen the printed version yet (they are sending me one) but you can read the text of their article online. Published Feb. 22nd.

And hating to put anything on this blog that doesn't include a photo. Here's a particularly nice daylight camera toss, subtle motion effects, but you'll still notice the differing blur directions caused by the previously mentioned focal plane sensor distortion... if you look really carefully.


Canary Wu
Originally uploaded by tossthecam

JPG Magazine Issue 6: Oops

Coming Soon!
Originally uploaded by heather.

A pretty extensive feature on the camera tossing technique and phenomenon was included in this issue of JPG Magazine which is finally shipping. Included was an interview from myself, comments from the community, photos by myself and community members, and they even re-published a version of the Camera Toss HOWTO.

From JPG's website about issue 6:

There's magic in mistakes. There's something special in the spontaneous. Because it's in those moments when photography becomes more than just a document. It becomes something real.

This issue of JPG is about your best "Oops!" photos. Whether it was faulty settings, old film, the random photo on the last frame of film, or the last photo a camera ever took, this issue features some of the finest slip-ups, freak-outs, and happy accidents ever captured on film or pixels.

We're also joined by featured photographer Rion Nakaya, who shares some of her favorite serendipitous moments, and Ryan Gallagher, to talk about camera toss photography.

We photographers can't help being detail-oriented. We notice things. Our eyes can't help but frame reality. It's what we do. But it's always good to be reminded that control is an illusion, and sometimes the best photos are the ones that sneak up on you.

JPG Magazine interviews the community...

toss
Originally uploaded by boxcrown.

JPG Magazine is building an issue on the topic of "Serendipity" in photography. Camera Toss has a place as a feature and they are conducting interviews with the community.

The question for the community is simple... Why do you Camera Toss?. The answers are more diverse than you might think.

With gorgeous results like the above by boxbrown, I can't imagine any valid reason NOT to throw my SuperSampler into the air. Of course I myself don't own one of these neat little cameras, but I am starting to want one. ;-)

Coverage: A lot of it...

With my premiere exhibition in Hamburg, Germany, alot of other media sources found the topic worthy of dicussion or treatment... here is a synopsis and some links (this is probably a very incomplete list)...

Online News: Spiegel Online (again)
Being an official sponsor of the exhibition, they contributed a second article on the topic shortly before the opening event. The turn out was wonderful and feedback even better.
link to their follow-up article

Television: RBB | Polylux
An extremely popular news magazine, wanted to put together a very entertaining piece and was present at the opening event filming. I played into their desire to create something entertaining, had fun doing it, but wish the treatment had been a little more serious.
Watch the video

Television: RTL/RTL2 | Unknown Program
Interviewed me in the gallery and covered the second event at the gallery, a party and judging of the photography contest submissions. I have not seen their piece yet and don't have a link at this time. Perhaps it has not aired yet because they requested a follow-up at the closing event.

Television: SAT1 | News
Produced a short news piece about the exhibition, interview segments with me, and a some footage of me trying out a few Hamburg locations via camera tossing. No link at this time.

Radio: DeutschelandRadioKultur
Interviewed me and a couple others from the community who had given the camera toss technique a try. No link at this time. Another program on this station has requested another interview.

Unrelated to the Exhibition...

Television: CNN-IBN India
After arriving in Europe noticed that there was some activity on the topic in India. I had been contacted by this reporter but he ended up putting together a story using India sources before I could find time to work with him.
Read the Article

Web Magazine Article: PictureShuttle.de
Before leaving for Europe this photgraphy centric web magazine wrote an online article about camera toss and recieved permission to use an image.
Read the article

Online News/Magazines: Italy
Two articles have appeared in the last week in Italy. None of them contacted me and I'm quite curious what they say. If anyone can translate these two articles I would truely appreciate it.
1. UniMagazine.it Article
2. Panorama.it Article

Hamburg Exhibition, a Portfolio

A sneak preview for the readers of this blog, some photographs exhibited as a portfolio in my upcoming exhibition in Hamburg, Germany. The 3x23 gallery has indicated a limited edition exhibition book containing these images may be produced. If you would be interested in purchasing such an item do not hesitate to add yourself to a subscription list via email: info[at]m2[dot]ag.

Portfolio Selections...









Images Copyright © 2005 Ryan Gallagher

Coverage: The London Times

Appearing in their online edition and printed magazine. A columnist reporting on coming trends recently contacted me, and his piece was printed on January 14th, 2006. Read the online edition.

It was a bit disconcerting to see my name in the printed column under a page title of "The Next Big Thing". Who'd have imagined this interpretation? For me this piece was a wonderful thing though, as it contained the first real printed criticism from someone in the photography industry, a quote from the photo editor of The London Times itself. It is quite priceless, you'll just have to read it (and I don't know what he was shown). There was still a bit of spin provided by the author, which upset some of the camera toss group members, but overall I thought it was an informative and thoughtful piece. No photos were printed as it was just an editorial, so unless someone followed the url to this blog, it is probably difficult to imagine.

Coverage: Deutsche Welle World

A television debut, throwing cameras as an intentional way to take photographs, and growing trend, according to Deutsche Welle's European culture variety program "Euromaxx". It was aired in three languages and something on the order of 96 countries. The German version can be viewed online:
www.dw-world.de/dw/episode/0,2144,1735863,00.html
(click" video on demand" and scroll to about 7:20 in stream)

The camera crew and journalist tailed our relatively new member lehmio around Hamburg, Germany as he sought out interesting subjects and talked about the concept. It was obviously written as a pop culture human interest story, and in that sense it was a great piece, but admittedly both lehmio and myself were disappointed that they opted to edit out the details about where, how, who, and when of it's origins, and perhaps where it might be headed? Thus, journalistically speaking, it did leave a bit to be desired, but they say "there is no such thing as bad press". I'm afraid I've yet to fully accept this premise, though I'm working on it.

Another member grabbed this screenshot as the flickr photo pool appeared on international television...


-- from flickrwegian

Coverage: diepresse.com (Austria)

Happy new years! And to celebrate, my photography and the camera toss community was in the news again!

DiePresse.com, an Austrian news website, ran a story and photo gallery on January 1st 2006. Welcome Austrian visitors! Hope you enjoy the creative photography.

link to the article
link to the gallery

Coverage: Journal Gazette/Times Courier

Blog vs. News
Blog wins this round!

Is mainstream media really this desperate for content that they would rush a story to press without using/reading the interview they requested? Apparently so. I was recently contacted by Nathaniel West, a staff writer for a newspaper group in Illinois, Mattoon Journal Gazette, the Charleston Times-Courier and Decatur Herald & Review. He requested an interview, which turned out to be an email questionaire. I replied giving him a very detailed perspective into Camera Toss and how it all got started, why people are doing it, etc etc. A wonderful foundation upon which to write an article, a better perspective than even the Washington Post got, which interviewed me by phone last month.

Then he published before receiving it, or even reading it (apparently). Less than 30 hours had elapsed. I realize we live in a short attention span theatre these days, but I'd hoped that at least reporters would read interviews, ones they themselves requested.

Needless to say i'm fairly disappointed, and also mildly offended. Primarily because it was a serious waste of my time. So in order to un-waste my time I'm publishing the interview here, for all his readers who make their way to the blog he is reporting on!

A Detailed Camera Toss Interview!
aka A brief history of Camera Toss

I'm not slamming all news, it just seems some are much more professional than others. Both the Post, and Der Spiegel did a wonderful job. This just drives home that it's about time to put together a press kit.

Coverage: Deutsche Welle Radio

A fellow community member was interviewed today for Deutsche Welle Radio's "Update Europe" program. Thomas Lewis (_nod) is living in the UK and has a reputation for his aerial self portraits, specifically the one that made the cover of Sunday Source in the Washington Post this weekend. He has a quite a few other photos on this blog too including this photoset and the one in this post.

Unfortunately I do not have a transcript or link to the online audio broadcast of that story.

Coverage: Der Spiegel Online

And when it rains it pours! Welcome Der Spiegel (online) readers! Their article published today.

Ryan Gallagher

Coverage: Washington Post

Just a short note to welcome all the Washington Post (printed and online) readers! A story about Camera Toss ran on Sunday Dec. 11th 2005.

Coverage: Globe and Mail

So our activities are getting enough coverage that I should probably be indexing the notable ones on the blog. Here is the first "print article" that showed up, a major canadian newspaper ran a story. The highlights are quoted here...

Finally, Art befitting a Throwaway Society
By IVOR TOSSELL
Friday, November 4, 2005 Page R31
read the entire article

One of the purest joys of photography is discovering that even the rankest amateur can do something artistic if he or she leaves the shutter open long enough. Even in this age of digital manipulation, where software lets you sepia-tone pictures faster than you can say "tasteless," there's an analog joy to capturing the blur of a car's taillights at night. It's a timeless genre.

But what, you ask, if your subject is stationary? Helpful as ever, the Internet has an answer: Ditch the tripod, press the shutter button, and throw the camera. Then, if it survives, post the results on-line to show everybody. This is called "camera tossing," and thanks to the Internet's newfound powers of self-organization, it's becoming a popular past-time.

The idea isn't just to chuck the camera, but to put just the right amount of spin on it so that light performs geometric tricks. The results can be quite striking, in a Spirographic kind of way. (Check out some results at cameratoss.blogspot.com.)

There's also an appealing element of risk, as hundreds of dollars of electronics goes spinning out of your hands -- and, the camera-toss websites insist, in order for it to count, the camera must leave your hands.

I know about this, because I decided I should write from a position of experience, and rigged up a camera-tossing test stand. It involved a floor lamp, a futon and a pile of pillows. I set the camera to a one-second exposure, pointed it at the light, and with a flick of the wrist, sent it spinning like a Frisbee. It landed on the pillows with a plastic crunch, but the picture was mighty pretty. The second time, the camera landed on its lens. The third time, I shot wide and hit the laptop.

Then I returned to the camera-tossing pages on-line, and discovered that after you toss the camera, you're supposed to catch it. It's an irksome distinction.

The neat thing about camera-tossing is that it's at the vanguard of a new way of sharing photos on-line. It's taken flight on an innovative service called Flickr (http://www.flickr.com), which you'll find old hat if you run a weblog.

[...]

The Internet has seen a lot of "let's all post pictures of the same thing" sites -- handheld signs, airplanes, Hummers, confessions, cats, swirlies made by flying cameras, you name it. Sites like these are appealing because they show social interactions playing out on a level that's so out of scale with our day-to-day lives.

It's the equivalent of starting a wave at a baseball game -- a few people sparking off a reaction by thousands. Take heart. Start the right wave, and somewhere in the world, in some quiet corner, a writer will be throwing his camera at furniture on your behalf, too.

I liked the article's style, but think it missed some of the reasons as to why this became such a instant phenomenon. Despite the memetastic aspects, I believe that at the base of all this is something very inspiring and rather artistic despite the contradicting technique. The reporter also made no effort to dig further or get some opinions from people involved.

It also missed a little regarding credit to the creator and early participants. Although camera toss became very "self-organizing" eventually, it did not start that way. Someone did start/create it, *cough* ;-), and promoted it by sharing their extensive photographic experiments. It was the results of these experiments that caused it to catch on gradually on flickr, and eventually expand beyond that. There are even specific photos in those early days that have comments such as "I was resisting, but that's it, now I have to try this!".

Luckily, the Washington Post is taking a different approach. We'll see if it get's published (planned for early December).

Welcome blogger users...

So yes, apparently we were the blog of note yesterday highlighted on the blogger home page and user dashboard pages.



Welcome all new visitors and thank you for all the wonderful comments and your own blog postings about us. Those interested in submitting their own camera tossed pictures should read this post to find out how.

The main thing to know is that this is the "official" blog of the flickr photography community called Camera Toss. I created both and seem to be responsible for inspiring this madness with my early efforts. There are quite a few of us now months later and thousands of dollars in photographic equipment put into deliberate jeopardy! There are many ways to view the images, the blog is just a highlights and announcements forum. Read the Camera Toss group description to find out more.

This is actually the second round of serious hype camera tossing has received, but the first round for the blog itself. So thanks blogger!

Camera tossing seems to be quite addictive once you've started, so there will be many more great images posted here in time. Thanks again for visiting.

--
clickykbd (Ryan Gallagher)

Flickrblog + Metafilter = New Tossers!

Peeping Tom2
Originally uploaded by subberculture.

One of the nicer submissions to the pool since the huge publicity event on Friday the 14th of October 2005, when flickr blogged us and then metafilter picked it up too. Also kottke.org. Did I forget anyone?

It perfectly demonstrates the fluid quality of camera tossing photos. Yet the strange nature of the subject (a TV or monitor) and color values give this one a particularly creepy effect.