Week 38-40

January was a month dominated by submitting Master's applications (a full-time job really) and preparing for a new position:

From February 15th I'll join MIT's Senseable City Lab in Boston as a Research Fellow with a focus on data visualization and creative coding.
I am really excited about this opportunity to work with and learn from the bright people at MIT! Until recently, I was also excited about moving to the United States. However, now that the new US administration has taken a course with undermindes many of the values I cherish as a European, some of that excitement has faded. At this time, I am not sure how to respond.

Something else: This weekend someone posted the Camera Restricta movie on Reddit's /r/photography, which was followed by an interesting discussion (and sent the video views past 300,000 plays).

While many users brought up valid arguments, there was again the usual portion of hate and misunderstanding. Although this surely is (to some extend) inherent to the internet as a medium, I noticed how again and again people get upset by the technical details. I was always aware that you can't judge the quality of a potential photo by counting the geotags nearby. I was simplyfing to make a point. Still, this is what people get carried away with, missing the overall idea.

My takeaway for future projects is to give away less of the technical implementation and create a more of a black box that opens up for imagination.