If, like me, you have had the misfortune to lose your camera, then your real sense of grief might be over the loss of the images it contained – treasured moments that can’t be replaced, beautifully crafted shots or happy snaps that can’t be recaptured. These days, as our memories are increasingly captured on smartphones and backed up on the cloud or recorded on Instagram, the loss of photographs is rare.
Nevertheless, a recently launched project hopes to reunite orphaned images (and cameras) with their owners. The initiative, led by insurance tech startup Trov, will showcase striking or intriguing examples, thought to have been taken over the past 10 years, online, to coincide with The Photography Show at Birmingham’s NEC.
Anyone who recognises the photos can get in touch with Trov via the website to let them know, with a view to tracking down the photographer.
The idea was inspired by a Vienna-based crowdsourcing project, Camerafound, which allows people across the world to upload images from cameras that have been found.
“Camerafound has had lots of luck over the years in reuniting people with their photos, but we’re hoping to amplify this amazing mission,” says Jeff Berezny, global head of marketing at Trov. “Being reunited with a physical camera is a great feeling, of course, but seeing photos, with the corresponding memories, that you thought were lost for ever must be truly amazing.”
That said, the success of a public search to reunite photos with photographers is predicated on the assumption that the subjects will be glad to be found. Excruciatingly, for shy, retiring types, there are no privacy settings for an orphaned photograph. (I’ll be wearing dark glasses.)
