The Everyday Seen through a Camera Phone

Other conference contribution, 2007

What does the everyday look like? Some answers to this question can be found when looking at moblogs on the internet, where anyone with a mobile phone camera can post their freshly taken pictures. Here we find photographs of meals, road repairs, toddlers, visits to the laundry room, holiday outings and new hairstyles in a proper mishmash. It would even be hard to imagine a motif that would fall outside the boundaries of the everyday. Questions that come to mind when watching these image databases are: Is the everyday necessarily something harmless? Are recurring events more everyday than unique ones? Does the everyday have to be presented in an everyday manner, or are extravagant photographs of the everyday conceivable? These questions are addressed with examples taken from various moblogs.