Express your inner bad photographer * Deleted Images

Thx to Epic-Fu, one of my favorite sources, for this one…

deletedimages.com – Where you can upload and share images that you would otherwise delete. I have to say I love this concept.

I share the same obscure photographic behavior of my grandfather, who would go to picnics and only take pictures of (up close) flower pedals and wood textures, instead of the ole’ fake smile family shots. Half photographer / half scientist, he was more interested in finding truth in the small and abstract details.

It is amazing what you can find when you lose the big picture and focus on things that you might otherwise overlook. People are loving deletedimages.com because it gives them a platform and permission to do so. Whether it be slightly blurred, accidentally cropped, or over/under-exposed, these images all have stories behind them. Don’t get me wrong, I totally see value in planned composition, and at the same time all things in life naturally have color, line and form, so an unplanned photo opens our eyes to an unintended perspective on the situation, which can be exactly what is needed sometimes.

<< For example, artists have been doing this for years. Check out the album cover for Washing Machine, Sonic Youth

Open Science * Dark Data

Reading on the bus…a fascinating article by Thomas Goetz in the latest Wired on Dark data.

So what happens to all the research that doesn’t yield a dramatic outcome — or, worse, the opposite of what researchers had hoped? It ends up stuffed in some lab drawer. The result is a vast body of squandered knowledge that represents a waste of resources and a drag on scientific progress. This information — call it dark data — must be set free.

The article sites the Public Library of Science and their mission of “making the world’s scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource”, which totally exemplifies the concept of the New Alexandrians. Who knows what unasked and unanswered problems this new type of collaborative innovation will shed light on.

Random idea for how to use this concept in business…Hey Warner Brothers and Dreamworks, I have a tip for you…think about (web) distribution of your Dark Dailies (i.e. the unused footage that stay on the editing floor). Think about it…all the FREE viral marketing, as well as relationship building with prosumers and potential new fans. Seriously, you have been offering “alternate endings” and unused footage on DVDs for years. Put this stuff in public hands…who knows what could happen?