Lost & Found

Pictures are captured memories that can often hold great significance and deep meaning for people. They offer a way to connect with our past and they are portals into shared moments, great adventures and people that we do not want to forget. Through our changing landscape of technology pictures remain static and solid reminders of things that our memories do not have the capacity to retain in full form. So what would happen if you were to loose your memories? Well thanks to the wonder of the world wide web you might just have the chance to find them again.

I recently discovered a site called ifoundyourcamera.net. It allows people who have found lost cameras to send in a few images in the hopes of reuniting the lost memories with the people who made them. The site was inspired by a secret posted on PostSecret containing a message that a lost camera had been found a Lollapalooza and the author would like to return the photos. When I was watching the video for the Found Camera website I was struck by the speed at which people responded to the site.

There is a story about a camera being reunited with one couple in Chicago. It seems that merely a few hours after the images were posted someone who knew the couple commented saying that they could help track them down. It never fails to amaze me when I see such connectedness in the world. Thanks to technology the planet is shrinking and offering unique solutions to just about any problem that can be imagined (check up on the progress of SuperStruct for some fascinating solutions to more in-depth issues). It really gives me hope that the mind of the world is opening up and our technological evolution is allowing us to see more, hear more and make more of a difference in our everyday lives simply by taking part in something.

The internet allows us to peer into the complex world of patterns and connections in a way we have never been able to do before. Social networking sites such as Facebook are a great example of social interconnectedness and allow you to see it in action by showing shared friends and suggesting people you might know based on your list of friends. ifoundyourcamera.net allows us to take the six degrees of separation one step further and shows the things we can do with that connectedness to make our world a better place. To some people it may seem like a small thing to reunite someone with their lost camera, but to the cameras owner you may just be returning the memory of a lifetime.