Portrait Diaries
Portrait Diaries are time-stamped electronic image archives: life documentation tools.
Designed to be used daily, they gather and preserve quotidian images from your life. They are meant to recall an old hall mirror in both form and function. If hung near the front door they will remind you to photograph yourself often. Over time you will collect a fascinating and moving archive of images.
Composed of a Windows PC, a flat panel display and a digital camera, Portrait Diaries create an archive of images of their owner over the course of their life. Embedded in the frame are halogen photo lamps, a digital camera, a small LCD text display, and a key switch. The owner accesses the system using a key, which prevents others from corrupting the personalized archive. When the key is turned the system turns on the lights, take a portrait, date-stamps it and saves it to disk.
When not taking pictures, the machine acts as a dynamic portrait, slowly scrolling through the archive, displaying the next portrait every minute or so. The date the photo was taken is displayed on a small text display. A viewer can move forward or backward through the owner's life using two buttons. Pressing a button moves one date. Holding either of the buttons down causes the system to scroll rapidly in time, creating an interesting time-lapse film effect.
Such a device can be used to document your own life, that of a friend, a child, the moments of a relationship, a marriage, and probably many things I haven't thought of yet.
As with all Time Systems, a variety of custom variants are available and collaborative commissions are welcomed. Contact me with your idea!