This photographer “got to ten” [Bart McGuire /flickr]
What makes taking photos of numbers so fun? There’s something terribly satisfying in finding series of numbers out there in the world. But sequencing your photos in a collection is even better. And when you can do this with a bunch of strangers from around the world via the internet, it brings photographing numbers to a whole new level.
In Numerical Order is a flickr group whose members collaborate to post photos from one to infinity. They’re at 261, today Aug 3, 2005. Join the 644 members of this group and take part.
heavenuphere says:
Now that brings back memories…
great gigs!
publicenergy says:
Yeah
I saw them at the old Kentish Town and Country Club in London in 1991 and then again more recently (last 5 years or so) at Sherpherds Bush Empire. Great gigs both times.
Ndesh says:
I was afraid someone would spoil this number with a door-number or something, you sure did the right thing, thanks!
comments under Publicenergy’s photo of a Front 242 cassette [Publicenergy/flickr]
- More Fun with Flickr Photos of Numbers
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There’s also a flickr group called 2OONE – The Religion, for people who love the number 21.
Count to Ten flickr group started a game where once you get to 10, you photoshop your ten photos together and create a badge.
Fibonacci group on flickr is seeking photos of examples of that special, natural symmetry.
Elizabeth Sharp who goes by the monicker Ill Ease did a photobook inspired by the O.J. Simpson case entitled Tragic Rise and Fall of the Number 32. You can see some of it here: http://www.illease.com/photobooks/index.html
Adrien, one of our flickr group (http://www.flickr.com/groups/radioopensource) sent me this message about the number 21:
Hi!
i don’t remember when I started loving that 21 of a number, but it’s actually because I was born on a 21st… with a friend of mine, we decided to have our own crew… like hiphop or grafitti crews…
Well, we’re only a few people and all my friends thinks I am crazy (they do…most of the time
but since I’ve started with this 21-thing…I can see it everywhere…all the time, at the most unexpected place, or where you have foreseen it…it’s really weird sometimes… I should have written it down everytime I have been thinking about this number and it appeared… I’ve always told myself to do so but never really did it…
It’s only the very beginning of this crew, but one day, it will be as powerful as…well, as it can be
Somehow, it shows that when human mind is stuck on something…that thing, whatever it is, begins to be part of the reality (well for the…let’s call him “the patient” LOL…and this often drives to diseases *LOL* ) no just kidding, but it helped me seeing other things I was blind for…things that have nothing to do with numbers…and the other way around, I understood that you could pictures things in your head but that they would never be part of the reality…
Well it’s getting too philosphical and too medical for me that whole thing and I’m not sure I explained it the right way…you might think I am crazy…
Am I? oh I need to get cured…
bye
adrien
PS: one story: I was once in an underground supermarket parking place and I got out of my car…there i stepped on something, at first sight it looked like garbage, but I realised it was some kind of ,you know the thing the guys in the army wear on they shoulder to say which company they belong to…) then I told myself : it’s a thing of the 21st company, i took it turned it around, and yes it was
(you got the pic in the pool of the group radioopensource.
If 13 is everyone else’s unlucky number, is it, then, my lucky number?
In yesterday’s program (August 3rd) on “Numbers”, everythig was explained quite clearly and well. It appeared, however, that the infinite series:
1 – 1/3 + 1/5 – 1/7 + 1/9 – … added up to pi. It seems to me that this series adds to pi/4 in actuality.
I don’t know if this was mentioned late in the program or not.
Lou M.
Chris, Mary & ‘Sourcers:
Really, is this topic the best use of everyone’s time? You ask, “What makes taking photos of numbers so fun?” as if this is a question we’ve all asked ourselves. Perhaps the only thing more ridiculous than people taking pictures of numbers is devoting an hour to talk about it (not to mention the work going into prepping the show).
I hope you’re all keeping in mind the fact that many, many people who want to hear your program will never, ever visit this site; many, of course, could care less about the Internet altogether. (BTW, I do not count myself among them – I’m an early adopter and love how the Internet’s power has been put into service for ephemera. I’m just not sure we need a one-hour program about this topic. Perhaps it would have been better to group this particular type of activity in a program with others of its ilk.) In other words, something that might seem interesting in this site may only appeal to a tiny fraction of the people who’ve been waiting for Chris & Mary’s (and Amber’s) return.
Chris, I know you’ve become a big, big fan of the Internet (I still remember your fascination with a program you did about webcams – you said something like, “This is absolutely fantastic,” pronouncing “fantastic” as only you do), but remember that what’s going to attract listeners is YOU, not the comments of some blogger read during the program. Deliver the Chris Lydon tradition of digging into a topic and worry about everyone’s participation in the website later.
Best wishes – honestly,
Bill McDonough
Beverly MA
Hi Bill,
While this example of a numbers photogallery may seem pointless and esoteric, it’s a wonderful example of how the Internet brings together like-minded, creative people into their own little communities of interest. Cataloging found images of numbers is a waste of time for many, many people, but for some people who love photography, found art, and numbers, it’s a natural outlet for them. (I may even contribute a few photos of my own. )
I agree it may be difficult to do an entire show about this numbers project. I’d also be more interested in having a show about this and a diversity of other projects that bring people together through technologies like tagging, rss and blogging. Flickr.com is probably awash with projects of people doing really obscure stuff – obscure to you and me, maybe, but an avocation for them that affirms their sense of being a part of a community.
It’s not that different from what Brendan and I were doing last February on The Gates @ Central Park. Lots of people don’t like public art, art criticism, the artist Christo, etc, but there were enough people who were dying to go to Central Park to see the thousands of saffron gates that were installed for two weeks in February. The website gave them an outlet for posting their thoughts – text, photos, podcasts, tags, etc. So even if the project was a little silly and pointless, it gave people who care about discussing public art and Central Park a place to come together.
Anyway, I see your point about this not meriting a whole hour. But the whole phenomenon of online communities fostered by tagging, rss, etc, would make for great radio – at least in my book…. -ac
Hi Bill,
Did you listen to the radio piece on numbers?
This post “Collecting Photos of Numbers” is a web-only feature which went along the theme of Numbers. I filed it under “Outsourced”–what we’re calling our web-only journalism. The point of my post was to be a companion piece to the radio show with Chris, which dealt with other aspects and ideas about numbers. The radio show was much broader than just talk about taking pictures of photos or the internet. In fact, I don’t think Chris even talked about these items at all.
Do you think this is unclear?…It probably is. We are still figuring this thing out.
Your post brings up a challenge that we at Open Source face. Because we have a website where we’re developing content and working through the medium of the internet (not just regurgitating the radio show), our project here becomes confusing to our listeners and often to ourselves as well. People think we’re just about the internet or obsessed with it. But we’re covering topics much much more far-reaching, all the while trying to use the internet as a medium to its full potential.
So here’s my question: How can we make what we’re doing more clear? We don’t want people to think that the radio show is only about the internet and about the internet only.
I think we need to have a section for our “Outsourced” web features, where we could explain what this form of journalism is–”convergence journalism.” We’re just getting started but the goal is to use web tools–photo-audio-video sharing apps, blogs, social bookmarks–to gain access to everyday people and make stories with them, not for them.
When Chris hosted the talk show “Connection,” I knew of no way to ascertain very well beforehand what the substance of the show was going to be. I tuned in to find out. The introduction did not always turn me on and I would wonder how a whole program could be built around the proposed subject or, even if one was, I probably wouldn’t find it particularly interesting. My interest was, far more often than not, drawn into a subject I realized was uninteresting only because of my ignorance. I often found that the method of arousing my interest was by making connections with so many things, in some of which I might have had an interest, that the world kept getting more and more fascinating. I would never have imagined it till I heard it. It was Chris Lydon, with his eclecticism, that usually made those connections. I found out I usually came out ahead if I waited to see what got connected before I discounted something. I was sad the name “Connection” couldn’t have gone along with Chris but rather was exploited for its connections when the enlightening connections with the subject matter were no longer there. I continue to tune in for those connections that turn out to be fun and inteesting.
Cheers.
Hi Vanessa -You’re right, I did NOT realize that it was a web-only feature. I went to the home page, saw “Tonight” and the next thing I saw was the heading, “Collecting Photos of Numbers.” Perhaps a parenthetical “(Web-only feature)” would have saved everyone from my rantings.
Thanks,
Bill
Yeah, we thought we were being cool calling our web-only features “Outsourced”. But maybe that’s a bit of an inside joke, cracked at the moment when we need clarity.
But connections are what we’re trying to create with the web-only features. There a way of sharing interesting content that wouldn’t necessarily work well on the air or wouldn’t carry a full hour.