The Plastic Camera Project

It happened at the Hard-Off, what the Japanese would call a thrift store, but what I would describe as a lightly-used shopping experience, where last year's Omega Submariner and DSLR cameras go to die. Or to find a new home if you're a frugal American looking for a steal. Anyhow. While browsing the used camera inventory, my eyes crossed paths with a bright blue plastic camera sitting on a shelf. Round1 was written atop the hot-shoe, and a price tag with a meager sum was siting beside it. Something like $10 when all was said and done. I had to have it. What the fuck it was, however, I had no idea.

Japan is notorious for gifts and gift giving, so when we discovered this was a prize someone might win at the local Round1 bowling alley, it all started to make sense. It came complete with cardboard box, filters, a flash and an instruction manual... in Japanese. I picked up a few rolls of cheap 35mm film and fired away. I took the camera to Italy a few months later where I covered the efforts of a few friends racing in the Sardegna Rally. After that it traveled with me on more than a few surf trips in Japan, to include a week long stay on the Izu Peninsula. Before departing Bousou Island, I entrusted my new toy to my friend Rabbitt. I instructed him to shoot a few rolls and share the shots. We'll see what happens. What follows, however, are a handful of photographs I took with the camera in Italy and elsewhere.

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Check out more of our film photographs here.