time zero

The Desk Make yourself at home

Welcome to the TIME ZERO desk. Move a photograph, turn it over for its story, and peel back the tape. Wander through an exhibition, or keep a little of today in the Photo Booth.

TZ DISPATCHNo. 001 · UC Davis

No second take. That is the fun of it.

We have chosen a wonderfully inefficient way to make photographs. Each instant print costs more, sometimes goes wrong, and asks you to stand still while it develops.

Digital gives you a hundred chances. An instant camera gives you one. The exposure is everything. When the print emerges, time starts again at zero.

We keep exposures that really happened: too bright, strangely colored, light-leaked, or nudged out of focus by a passing shoulder.

And please, do not shake it. Really.

Click.
DragHold and move a print. Release quickly to let it slide. ShakeMove it back and forth and watch it blur. OpenEnlarge a photograph, then turn it over. PeelLift the tape from a print. ClickPress an empty spot on the desk to take a picture.

Scroll down. The letters will find their places.

One photograph, one story. Leave a moment here that made you stop and look.

Peel the layers

1 / 3 Newspaper
22:00:00t = 0
Just one final frame per group.
ROUTE ALIGHTFollow the light. Anything that glows.
ROUTE BPEOPLEPhotograph people. The people beside you.
ROUTE CTRACEWhat remains after we leave.
ROUTE DSHADOWShadows and darker corners.
ROUTE EWILDCARDAnything goes. Make it count.
TZ DISPATCHZERO HOUR · Planning study

At 22:00, everyone presses the shutter together

20:30 From Memorial Union, four or five groups follow LIGHT, PEOPLE, TRACE, SHADOW, or an optional WILDCARD route.

The routes are set; the wandering is yours. At 22:00, each group takes one photograph from wherever they are. That is T = 0.

22:15 Meet in the Arboretum’s White Flower Garden. Each group brings one FINAL FRAME and tells us why it stayed. There are no prizes.

Keep scrolling to move the newspaper aside ↓
Take a photo ↗Visit the gallery ↗The desk images and stories are visual studies, waiting for our own photographs.

SOMETHING GOOD IS DEVELOPING.

Soon,
you can reach us here.

We are building a small collective.
Our email and social accounts will appear here when ready.

Leave a photograph first ↗
Do not shake it. Really.