Se meg (See me)
Se meg is a project I developed for «The cultural satchel» (a national programme to encourage cultural activity in schools nationwide) and comprehensive school students, which indirectly sprang from my MMS TV book concept. The camera telephone is a toy and a tool with its own potential, rules and consequences. All camera types influence how and what we photograph. Thus this new telephone camera does not stand out as such, were it not for the fact that it also incorporates a telephone and an image fax. It is by far the smallest, most private, and most available camera ever presented to mankind and is a very effective broadcaster of images. One may share with friends (in many ways like and old Xerox), it may serve as a visual notebook or as a global mail service with instant delivery. There are camera telephones in the pockets of most youths nowadays. Such extensiveness entails increased availability, and new potential in turn also bring about cultural changes. The popular technology shifts established boundaries; new pictures and ethic problems arise.
In the Se meg project the contents – what is being communicated – stands at the core. I’ve taught all forms in comprehensive schools starting off by presenting my artistic work and then going on to stimulate and lead discussions on photography, visual communication, personalised expressions and the ethic boundaries of photography in the private and public sphere in the light of new technology. With this backdrop, the students have continued on to a home project, the theme being themselves. I.e. the student presenting an individual visual project from one of four categories: Self portrait, Interests, Food or Home. All pictures had to be shot using a mobile phone camera. I then gathered the photos and adapted them for exhibition or other forms of presentation by increasing sharpness and quality of colour, and then arranging each student’s photos in the same quartered template: Self portrait at the top left, Interests at the top right, Food at the bottom left and Home at the bottom right.
The home project did not focus on having the students produce aesthetically fine photography in some quasi amateur photographic style, but rather related to a set of cultural and technological problems of our time. By the use of visual communication and mobile telephone cameras, the projects explores contemporary aesthetics, the student’s own and personal expressions and the limits of their private sphere in the public.
The selection was made from almost 1800 student works from the town of Horten, Hof, Oslo and Sandefjord from 2005 to 2007.
20 x 28 cm per student.
Inkjet, aluminium and laminated.
