Sunday evening I set up a tripod in front of my television and took photographs for 24 minutes. There is no significance to the 24 minute time frame, I just happened to notice. I shot about 50 frames while surfing through the channels and then downloaded the shots. As a photographer interested in static images, I was curious how a medium based on a continuum translated. The resultant images contained a mixture of the familiar, the abstract, and the disturbing. A number of people have commented on this blog and in person how some of my photographs tell little stories, but many of these images seem to pose questions.
I may go weeks without watching TV, but I see it enough to know what’s out there. Other than Dexter and the occasional film or football game or documentary, it all seems like a soul-sucking waste of time to me. What do you think?
If it was a time capsule, who ever opened it would think we were a f-up mess.
Totally.
I admit to watching more TV than I should.. and I’m increasingly horrified by what I see.. the rise in violence is upsetting, I wrote about it recently on my blog..
I worry about the youth who watch tv, unchaperoned without an adult to help moderate what is being seen. I let my children watch very little tv and I was with them much of that time so that I could see firsthand what they saw… As a result, my youngest son has no TV!!!
I wish we, the viewers, had more impact on media moguls, and the ad agencies…
Spot-on DF, I feel exactly like you do. Thanks for stopping by.
You’re right that was disturbing as hell. I feel like I need a shower. With bleach. I loved #4 even though I think it was just a fade into #9. Or whatever they call that in TV world.
I watch about an hour and a half a night. But I do really like a lot of shows. Mad Men, Curb your Enthusiasm, The Office, and of course Survivor and BB. It’s the only time my brain can ever relax. But seeing these stills makes me wonder if it does more harm than good.
Creepy indeed Scott. I forgot about MadMen, which my wife and I love. Oh, and Vicki is hanging out with me for a few days…I think I’m supposed to give you a hug.
Is that shark giving me the finger.
YEAH DEXTER!!!!
He’s giving you the middle fin Bear. Ditto Dex.
I think if I was an ET and saw these images, I would just leave Earth alone.
I think you hit the nail on the head George. Thanks for popping by and I think you do great work over on your blog.
What do I think? I think this post is the awesomest!
I also think that I’ve spent way too much time watching TV…and living vicariously through it. I only watch it at the gym now, but when I was younger I knew every show out there.
You know it’s bad when you and your friends talk about Reality shows more than you talk about reality…
The tube is full of ‘Unreality Shows’ and ‘Nontroversy Talk Shows.’
Thanks B, the gym seems like the perfect place for a little TV watching. You go girlfriend!
Happy Thanksgiving, FJ.
I’d tell you what I’m thankful for, but I already know what you’d say…
“I know, I know…”
HA!!
eeeeeek…. that shark!
Yes, and I am in the process of jumping it. Thanks Nursie.
Thank god my kids run my television. I never see stuff like this until I take control of it.
If I shot 24 minutes the frames would be a mixture of the Simpsons, Ren & Stimpy, the Fox & the Hound 2, Monsters vs. Aliens, Meet the Robinsons and Futurama.
The world would seem to be a much brighter place and my ass would be sued six ways to Sunday by the legal thugs of FOX, Disney and Dreamworks.
This post is a masterwork, FJ. I’d like to see some repeats of this experiment. Perhaps some Telemundo…
Thanks CLT, I can’t believe you have time to watch any TV. Telemundo may be in the offing.
Breaking news! Great post FJ, and yes, life is happening outside my living room while I type this. Most people get what you say, I think. And most still watch, hours and hours of spam.
Most TV aggravates me, and these images just brought back a certain feeling of angst that I try not to let surface. Most of this is directed towards the pithy news channels…those self proclaimed beacons of journalism that ain’t.
Most of it, well, mostly:)
Hey Shipra, thanks for stopping by. I agree with you, mostly
Good stuff. The images are disturbing. That makes them interesting. I have my favorite show, Lie to Me. May get old but it has entertained me so far. Tim Roth is a great actor.
Thanks T, enjoy the holiday man.
Happy Thanksgiving. Happy and thankful to have you as a dear friend! Rock on!
Awww, T, that’s so sweet.
I definitely agree about t.v. being a wasteland and a waste of time. My t.v. viewing has basically shrunk down to about two hours a day (usually in the evening) and I haven’t watched a network show in years. About the only shows I watch is “Dexter” and a few various reality shows and what not on the cable channels. Shoot, I don’t even watch that much football anymore, unless the game is scheduled at 4:15p.
Ditto G, great to see ya.
The blue radiation from tv keeps me warm.
I can’t believe Snoop Dog and Joe Perry are on the same stage, side by side, together again for the first time, amazing!
And yet there they are!!
I forgot to say that I thought your “project” was an a very creative movement. You must be a cool person.
Thanks RR…I’ll take that as a compliment.
That’d be one strange insult.