ME and Ophelia

CAMERA PHONES
Turn users into amateur photo-journalists

"Unlike the traditional camera, the camera phone invites a new kind of personal awareness, a persistent alertness to the visually newsworthy that makes amateur photo-journalists out of its users. In comparison to the traditional camera, which gets trotted out for special excursions and events ... camera phones capture the more fleeting and unexpected moments.

...A friend you have not seen for a while or a pet's endearing gaze. Tokyo Tower or a funny-looking stuffed panda. A gorgeous parfait at a new cafe, a classmate who has just fallen into a puddle, a child opening wide for a spooned-in mouthful, a miniature milk package on an airline tray -- the camera phone makes it possible to take and share pictures of the stream of people, places, pets and objects in the flow of everyday life..."

Here is a good example:

MIZUKO'S LUNCH BOX HINTS
Made with camera phone

In Japan, on weekday mornings, Mizuko Ito, freshly packs lunch boxes for her two young children Luna and Eamon. L and E do not have the same tastes, so each lunch box has to be different!

Afterwards, using a camera phone, Mizuko posts photos of the lunch boxes to her new blog. The photos act as a visual aid on those mornings when she wakes up uninspired.

Mizuko recently authored a report, published in Japan Media Review, that explains how camera phones heighten visual awareness of everyday objects. The report provides many useful moblogging links, and several photos with captions such as: "A dog-loving high school student frequently snaps photos of her pup. She sends the best of these to her mother and they both use the pictures as their mobile phone wallpaper."

Hopefully, one day, Mizuko will blog step-by-step pictures to show how she prepares her wonderful lunch boxes - and the ingredients. Don't you fancy those bite size nibbles for your lunch? They look so appetising. Convenient too for storing in fridge (handy for my 5-times-a-day-eating programme).
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CAMERA PHONES ARE HERE TO STAY
And are being integrated into the everyday lives of Japanese users

Maybe next year I'll manage to post photos here, still have a lot to learn. Enjoy reading about moblogging (mobile blogging) especially in personal blogs, noting the camera phones bloggers use and talk about, their disappointments, wish-lists, tips etc. It's always a treat to see personal pictures of bloggers, their home life, friends, family and pets. Can't wait for you to see Ophelia and my view! If ever I decide to post a photo of myself, my guess is I'd post one taken more than four years ago. Unless my health improves of course: Oh, what pictures I could take when the tide is out. Have always loved beachcombing, sand, rocks, pebbles, looking for interesting bits and pieces in among the salty scent of seaweed and fresh wet sand.

In the meantime, I shall keep an eye out for bloggers writing about camera phone tips, makes, models, prices etc., and share what I find here.

Mizuko's report states that "the image quality of camera phones has skyrocketed from the original 110K pixels of the J-SH04 to the 1.3 megapixels of DoCoMo's SO505i, released this summer. And, in a survey by IPSe Marketing conducted in December last year:

42.4 percent of camera phone users reported that they took photos of "things that they happened upon that were interesting."

This was followed by family members (39.5 percent)
--friends (36.6 percent)
--self (26.4 percent)
--pets (23.7 percent)
--and travel photos (21.5 percent)

The contrast between the serendipitous and everyday categories leading the pack and the trailing "travel photo" category is a striking testament to the everyday and ubiquitous uses of the camera phone."
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Source - via Joi Ito's Web - extracts from Full Report "Camera phones changing the definition of picture-worthy" by Mizuko Ito, Okabe Daisuke, Japan Media Review, August 29, 2003 - "Blogs and now moblogs have provided new fodder for the claim that the Internet challenges traditional structures of journalistic authority. In addition, reporting is being transformed by quiet yet equally important practices below the radar of published news of both the micro and macro variety."
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GOVERNOR TANAKA OF NAGANO
Dressed up as a "yashii"

Joi Ito blogged a great photo of Governor Tanaka of Nagano dressed up as a "yashii". Wondering about the super cheery outfit, I googled "yashii" to find out more but it's all in Japanese.

Love that fabric and design. It'd make such a fun dressing gown for lounging around in here on the couch. All one would need is that outfit, a little lip gloss and perfume to feel like a million dollars - it looks so fresh and HEALTHY. Ophelia would like snuggling into it too.