DAY 298

PHOTOGRAPHIC CURIOSITIES

Camera Tossing

FLY-BY SHOOTING

A photographer finds a setting that is almost entirely dark, pierced by a few points of light. The camera is thrown upward; a timer has been set for the shutter to click while it is suspended in midair. The spinning camera catches the lights as they whiz past its lens, creating wild, abstract patterns and formations in the resulting photograph. (Precautions are taken, of course, to softly catch the camera as it falls.)

The practice of camera tossing has been explored by professional photographers and amateurs alike. The resulting images are, of course, largely random, as the only factors directly under the control of the photographer are the positioning of light sources and the motion of the tossed camera.

Of course, the idea of leaving the specifics of a piece largely up to chance is nothing new to art. Robert Morris allowed large pieces of felt to fall to the ground at random, letting gravity determine the final form that they would take. Entire schools of postmodern art have incorporated uncontrollable, “chaotic” elements into artistic expression, including Japan’s “Gutaï Group” and the Fluxus movement.

Perhaps what sets camera tossing apart, however, is an added element of risk: Not only is the photographer leaving the resulting image up to chance, but the equipment itself is placed in harm’s way in the process. —DJS