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I think they should have started with a more achievable goal to make it to 10 years, and then re-evaluate afterwards. Maybe 100 is achievable to some extent? 10

I think they should have started with a more achievable goal to make it to 10 years, and then re-evaluate afterwards. Maybe 100 is achievable to some extent? 1000 seems like pure fantasy to me.

was_a_dev 3y ago
Or a series of cameras. With one being opened every 10 years or so.
kilroy123 3y ago
I thought the same. I wonder if they did already? If so I would love to see the picture(s).
kibwen 3y ago
It's an art project whose purpose is to get people in the present to consider the passage of time, rather than a project whose purpose is to produce a photograph. To spark discussions like this about its feasibility in the face of the uncertainty of the future is as much a part of the project as the camera itself.
- mihaic 3y ago
  Saying something is art is really not an excuse to not put in extra effort. Proof of engineering makes a statement in itself.
- karaterobot 3y ago
  > To spark discussions like this about its feasibility in the face of the uncertainty of the future is as much a part of the project as the camera itself. Nobody's talking about the future of the world as a result of this project, they're mostly talking about the future of the project itself, and how it'll end up a wet fart because of poor planning. If the goal is to get people slapping their foreheads then it's a smashing success. Beyond that, I'm not sure what the effect will be. All press may be good press, but not all press amounts to art.
kurthr 3y ago
Yeah, it seems purpose built as an untestable thought project. Might as well have had some kids put hand prints in concrete at the base. Imagine what the time value of the money spent on this will be for this in 1000 years. A market investment of $1000 that could return 2% over inflation over that time period would be equivalent to $400B in today's dollars.
- CPLX 3y ago
  Problem is that’ll get you a medium Diet Coke in 3024.
  - kurthr 3y ago
    Note that I said beat inflation, but hey maybe 2024 Diet Coke cans will be the last remaining currency in 3024.
  - plasticchris 3y ago
    If dollars are even still a thing
  - CoastalCoder 3y ago
    More likely a 12 oz. Slurm.
- thsksbd 3y ago
  Beating inflation by 2% over 1000 years? Physically impossible
  - kurthr 3y ago
    Well, I agree $ is unlikely to be a thing by then, but the broad stock market has beaten inflation by 6% (almost 7%) over the last 150 years. That's already over 1000x. So, no more impossible than having a random stick take a photograph for 1000 years. Perhaps, they'll sell 0.0000001% of the stock of a corporation that owns the photograph for $4, or it will contain the last unburnt bitcoin.
isoprophlex 3y ago
I took a photo like that with a ~ 1 year exposure time. The patterns the sun makes are really cool, you can make out the moments with and without sunshine throughout the days. My gut feeling of doing this for one year: 1000 years is just plain impossible. Not with something made out of metal with an actual hole in it. Maybe some glass capped ceramic to avoid water ingress and corrosion... but after one year, my camera was already full of weird goop. https://files.rombouts.email/IMG_6500.jpeg https://files.rombouts.email/IMG_6500.jpeg
- bluenose69 3y ago
  That's a great image. Thanks for sharing.
- Toutouxc 3y ago
  Neat idea, what kind of camera did you use?
  - BizarreByte 3y ago
    Stick a piece of photo sensitive paper in a pinhole camera and you're good to go. People typically make them out of black film canisters and such. Google "solargraph"
  - isoprophlex 3y ago
    I got one pre-made[1], but as another commenter said, it's "just" a box with a tiny hole and some photo sensitive paper, a pinhole camera [1] https://solarcan.co.uk/ https://solarcan.co.uk/
- hairywalt 3y ago
  My attempt was a 6-month exposure from a winter to a summer solstice using a Solarcan pinhole camera (https://solarcan.co.uk/ https://solarcan.co.uk/) Fairly pleased with the result, would definitely recommend having a go: https://stickyhat.com/a-6-month-pinhole-camera-exposure/ https://stickyhat.com/a-6-month-pinhole-camera-exposure/
- mkl 3y ago

I think they should have started with a more achievable goal to make it to 10 years, and then re-evaluate afterwards. Maybe 100 is achievable to some extent? 1000 seems like pure fantasy to me.

was_a_dev 3y ago

Or a series of cameras. With one being opened every 10 years or so.

kilroy123 3y ago

I thought the same. I wonder if they did already? If so I would love to see the picture(s).

kibwen 3y ago

It's an art project whose purpose is to get people in the present to consider the passage of time, rather than a project whose purpose is to produce a photograph. To spark discussions like this about its feasibility in the face of the uncertainty of the future is as much a part of the project as the camera itself.

mihaic 3y ago
Saying something is art is really not an excuse to not put in extra effort. Proof of engineering makes a statement in itself.
karaterobot 3y ago
> To spark discussions like this about its feasibility in the face of the uncertainty of the future is as much a part of the project as the camera itself. Nobody's talking about the future of the world as a result of this project, they're mostly talking about the future of the project itself, and how it'll end up a wet fart because of poor planning. If the goal is to get people slapping their foreheads then it's a smashing success. Beyond that, I'm not sure what the effect will be. All press may be good press, but not all press amounts to art.

kurthr 3y ago

Yeah, it seems purpose built as an untestable thought project. Might as well have had some kids put hand prints in concrete at the base. Imagine what the time value of the money spent on this will be for this in 1000 years. A market investment of $1000 that could return 2% over inflation over that time period would be equivalent to $400B in today's dollars.

CPLX 3y ago
Problem is that’ll get you a medium Diet Coke in 3024.
- kurthr 3y ago
  Note that I said beat inflation, but hey maybe 2024 Diet Coke cans will be the last remaining currency in 3024.
- plasticchris 3y ago
  If dollars are even still a thing
- CoastalCoder 3y ago
  More likely a 12 oz. Slurm.
thsksbd 3y ago
Beating inflation by 2% over 1000 years? Physically impossible
- kurthr 3y ago
  Well, I agree $ is unlikely to be a thing by then, but the broad stock market has beaten inflation by 6% (almost 7%) over the last 150 years. That's already over 1000x. So, no more impossible than having a random stick take a photograph for 1000 years. Perhaps, they'll sell 0.0000001% of the stock of a corporation that owns the photograph for $4, or it will contain the last unburnt bitcoin.

isoprophlex 3y ago

I took a photo like that with a ~ 1 year exposure time. The patterns the sun makes are really cool, you can make out the moments with and without sunshine throughout the days. My gut feeling of doing this for one year: 1000 years is just plain impossible. Not with something made out of metal with an actual hole in it. Maybe some glass capped ceramic to avoid water ingress and corrosion... but after one year, my camera was already full of weird goop. https://files.rombouts.email/IMG_6500.jpeg https://files.rombouts.email/IMG_6500.jpeg

bluenose69 3y ago
That's a great image. Thanks for sharing.
Toutouxc 3y ago
Neat idea, what kind of camera did you use?
- BizarreByte 3y ago
  Stick a piece of photo sensitive paper in a pinhole camera and you're good to go. People typically make them out of black film canisters and such. Google "solargraph"
- isoprophlex 3y ago
  I got one pre-made[1], but as another commenter said, it's "just" a box with a tiny hole and some photo sensitive paper, a pinhole camera [1] https://solarcan.co.uk/ https://solarcan.co.uk/
hairywalt 3y ago
My attempt was a 6-month exposure from a winter to a summer solstice using a Solarcan pinhole camera (https://solarcan.co.uk/ https://solarcan.co.uk/) Fairly pleased with the result, would definitely recommend having a go: https://stickyhat.com/a-6-month-pinhole-camera-exposure/ https://stickyhat.com/a-6-month-pinhole-camera-exposure/
mkl 3y ago