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August 01, 2007 |
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Finger
FOUND by Aline Smithson
in Los Angeles, California
After collecting found photos for twenty-five years, I was incredibly proud of my thirteen-year-old son, who presented me with a disposable camera he found under his bunk at camp. When we developed the film, we decided this was our favorite shot.
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Self Portrait July 01, 2008 |
Constructing a ... July 06, 2008 |
First Job July 21, 2005 |
Stick It to The Man December 15, 2005 |
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We collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework,
to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles -
anything that gives a glimpse into someone
else's life. Anything goes...
I'd say it looks like lake tahoe...I wonder why he's so unhappy, though.
I would have guessed picture phone pic. I don't think this guy wanted his photo taken. He didn't even smile.
;)
well, that just about says it all.
Oh, but I just noticed that he may be waving at the camera!
Oh to be 13 and on the bus to summer camp!
"You kids are going to have the time of your life!"
"Bite me."
Oh I love it!
It has "Bad Summer Camp Bus Trip" written all over it!
Probably taken by a nerdy little guy who so wanted to get in w/the 'cool dude' and well....it just didn't work out as planned.
Or - maybe the nerdy camp counselors are trying to get Doug here to sing along with them....and well, Doug doesn't play that.
That's the universal response when someone suggests, "Let's make lanyards!"
Hmmm...not exactly a happy camper, is he? Camp counselor confiscated his bag of weed. Gonna be a long, shitty summer....
or maybe he is just having a goof. i don't really know if this portends all the tragedy and blackness y'all think it does. y'all must have had some bad times at camp!
I think I can recreate the conversation that took place just before this picture was taken:
Aw man, don't take my picture. Don't. Ugh. Dude, don't take my picture. Jus..no..just don't. Because. Dude, put the camera down. Don't take my.....(sigh)...whatever [CLICK].
I meant to say "recreate the subject's side o the conversation". Or should I say "con-versation"?
reminds me of those horrible, terrible road trips that i took as a child, everyone in the car is pissed, cranky and tired except for that one idiot yammering away about license plates and taking pictures of nature, smh
Aww, a family that finds together...
The picture taker's part of the conversation would be:
"We're going to camp! I am SO excited! I'm going to make this trip a photo journal and scan it into my blog and EVERYbody will know what a great time we had! Oh, John, you're such a party pooper! Don't you want to be FAMOUS?! Ooooh!!! A cabin! Look at the camera John! Smile!!! JooooOOOooohn, you're not smiling... I'm going to take this picture whether you like it or not, so smile, damn it. Fine, put up your finger, you'll be known around the web as "The Guy with the Finger". You know when this trip is over I'm NEVER going to talk to you again. [CLICK]"
Strange... he is known around the internet as the guy with the finger...
a good time was had by all
I HOPE HE'S ON HIS WAY TO FAT CAMP TO TAKE CARE OF THAT ASTRONOMICALLY SIZED DOUBLE CHIN AND PUDGY FINGERS
Well, we can see this guy is NOT a happy camper.
Oh, come on! Do you guys seriously not remember when you were that age? Everyone is an idiot, and that's the universal response to having a camera pointed at you. I remember coming back from camp when I was 13, 14 years old, and having 40 pictures of completely happy people flipping my camera off. It's just because kids are stupid, not that this guy is particularly unhappy.
he don't look like a 13 yr. old...
http://www.alinesmithson.com/
I love google. Aline, you gave such a good hint that you were someone to be found. GREAT stuff, not your average photography! yummy.
P.S.- your mom ROCKS! awesome series.
I have several picture of myself in this pose. When someone says "Don't take my picture," it's probably a good idea to respect their wishes. There's a reason the camera wasn't recovered by the owner.
Well, I for one would love to see the rest of the photos on this camera!
HEY! It's a younger Jimmy Kimmel as a camp counselor.
Not setting a good example for the kids I see...good to know some things haven't changed. I like this shot.
I always appreciate the people who flip me off with their thumb sticking out. It says to me, "Fuck you. Do you need to hang your coat?"
Great find -- and sorry to get all tangential and stuff but Aline, your Hugo series is amazing. I remember when Pee Wee Herman used him as part of his act BEFORE he had the Playhouse show on telly.
So now professional photographers are using this site as a PR tool, pasting up "finds" in order to lure us to their Web sites? Sheesh. You can't escape the long arm of PR these days!
Aline - how come in your self-portrait series, you have black feet in one of the shots?
Gosh, ease up on Aline. She didn't post her website, nor make any mention of being a professional photographer. I'm pretty sure that photographers are people who enjoy websites like Found on a personal level, just like non-photographers.
Great find, but why accuse Aline of using this to promote herself? She didn't give her web address, she just found something cool and shared it. Sheesh...I think the picture made you grumpy!
This has bible camp written all over it, and who really is happy about bible camp?
Hopefully Jesus.
I dig the find, I dig the phototgrapher's site, which I'd never have seen if not for search in g google... but most of all, I DIG HUGO!!
Now I must find a Hugo Doll.. Ohhh E-bay...
http://web.mac.com/sbatzel/iWeb/Random%20Thoug
You got Lake Tahoe from this picture alone?
My guess (from the look on his face) is that some overly hyper girl developed a hefty summer camp crush on him and he just wasn't digging her. She tried desperately to get a pic to show her friends back home the dreamy guy at camp, but this was his way of telling her to leave him alone- he wasn't interested.
Oh! I get it! He's telling us it's the 1st of August. You crafty FOUND bastards! See you November 10th!
obviously he didn't go to dailyom.com today, because he would have seen the following article: Finding Happiness: A Reason To Smile.... Sheesh
Maybe he's pissed because he found out as soon as his parents dumped him off at camp , they headed straight for the beach !! ( That's what I'm doing )
This find is creepy. The boy is probably a stalker. Today's find was stolen from the bus, and the person who took it was selfish. Remember when there were only two or three comments per find? I don't like the way Hotmom presents herself. SALT shouldn't write in all caps. Why a Bible camp and not a Koran camp? You shouldn't judge people for their weight. Everybody chill!
This is what is wrong in this world today. Parents who think this is funny or cute. It is so disrepectful and low brow.
Jane - You are probably on to something. That is probably the reason it was a "lost roll of film" in the first place: kid knew that his parents wouldn't approve of the photos that he/she took at camp.
I know " I " would NEVER hear the end of it.
What camp is this?
Vivi, thanks for getting all the usual comments out of the way.
i for one, love all the comments. Makes things interesting.
here's the topic, 'giving the finger at camp' ..discuss.
I'm still laughing . . . fat camp.
Jane , this is not even the root of what is wrong with the world today . It's just a picture of a kid flipping the bird . What's wrong is everybody judging everybody .
IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT I TYPE IN ALL CAPS IN ORDER TO PROPERLY DISPLAY THE VAST IMPORTANCE, IMMENSE PRESTIGE, AND EXCEPTIONAL STATURE THAT IS MY PERSONA.
STOP BEING SUCH A JUDGMENTAL BITCH, VIVI, LET ME BE ME.
We didn't get a 'creepy' comment until a quarter to 5? Lame.
Anyway, I was totally the kid taking pictures of people who didn't want their pictures taken. It was awesome. I have some sweet shots. Flip me off, sure, I don't care :)
I felt so privileged this morning... didn't have to do the question... I'm special.
As for people getting pissed off... it's pissing me off, get over yourselves. The End.
He kinda looks like Jon Lovitz
SALT is a hypocritical bitch Mr. "I HOPE HE'S ON HIS WAY TO FAT CAMP TO TAKE CARE OF THAT ASTRONOMICALLY SIZED DOUBLE CHIN AND PUDGY FINGERS"
So stick that in your juice box and suck it.
anyway, about the found:
His finger looks like it is glowing, like it's a sign from the heavens or something. I sorta picture a chorus of angelic voices going "Ahhhhhhhh" in perfect harmony when this was taken.
But then again that could have been the cheap flash on the disposable camera warming up.
I'M NOT A JUDGMENTAL BITCH BECAUSE I CAN TELL THE KID HAS A WEIGHT PROBLEM. THAT'S MERELY BEING OBSERVANT.
I AM OBSERVING THAT THIS KID IS FAT.
I AM STATING THAT THIS KID IS FAT.
I AM TELLING YOU OF MY HOPES OF HIM TO TACKLE HIS WEIGHT PROBLEM WITH FAT CAMP.
Then Vivi was just STATING that you should stop typing in capital letters. Dumb ass.
Now I am telling you of my hopes of you getting over your pompous self.
you know what they say...the bigger the letters, the smaller the ****
My brothers always use their middle fingers in the picture, but they tend to be subtle and not as blatant as that guy.
Mona Lisa, please don't leave! Hang in there!
Frankly, I don't think you have to be a kid to do "stupid" stuff like this. Hell, everyone in my family has at least one picture of them flipping off the camera. My sister still does it and she's pushin’ grandma age.
Don't get me wrong. It's not that my family doesn't have class. They just forget to maintain it whenever a camera is around.
1)hahaha Ancient Vivi has my new favorite comment ever. That rocked my day!!
2)Also, apparently I'm stupid and there's something wrong with me, because I flip people off all the time (my friends in a joking manner, not just random strangers lol).
3)I hate it every single time someone uses the j word and doesn't spell it as judgenmental.
4)I always see people bitching about what salt says, but I never know exactly what they're talking about, because personally, when I see all caps I just skim right on by without reading it.
Call me racist, I don't care, but I bet he's the ground's keeper fed up with rich camp kids.
i am disappointed that assholes who wouldnt know what a sense of humour was if it bit them in the ass thinks its funny to impersonate others. That previous, rude post under my name, is not me.
Nikki- what does your comment have to do with being racist, or race at all for that matter? I don't get it.
Also, where in OK are ya from? I'm from the OKC area- Norman to be exact. :)
Vivi - You forgot 2 coments:
1: I ruined it for everyone
2: Something about Ayn Rand
HEAR, HEAR, Mickey B! (re the "j" word)
My observation is that they are travelling in one fancy bus, prolly a tour bus of sorts, the kind HS marching bands use on longer road trips. I think this shot was taken on the way home from band camp, and the guy with the finger is a young instructor who has had it "up to here" with the little twit who can't keep a beat to save his soul. The twit thinks he's cool cuz he's a drummer, and now, for Chrissake, he's shoving a camera in the instructor's face and the instructor is seconds away from strangling the kid, but knows if he does, he'll have to answer to the parents who think their kid is Buddy Rich. Phuckin' little band geek...So now the twit is laughing so hard he shoots cherry soda out his nose, and it hurts so bad he asks a band mom for an ice pack. She wants to know where the can of soda came from and tells him he must now sit with the band parents for the rest of the trip home. While he whines at the front of the bus, the instructor hides the camera in the seat, where it is found by a clever child the following weekend, taken to camp, then absentmindedly left behind because the camera wasn't his to worry about.
C'mon, people! What was so hard to figure out?
Thank you, Mickey B. We try to maintain standards, you know.
Yes, Rob, you ruined it for everyone by providing thoughtful, informed commentary.
However, I appreciatively consider you to be a veritable fountainhead of information.
Has your epistemology healed yet? That was my least favorite part of pregnancy.
Is that Artie Lange! star of Beer League?
episiotomy?
Mona, I think Vivi is related to Norm Crosby. Perhaps she is teasing us with her mangled English. If it was intentional, I love it. If it wasn't, YIKES! I lob a Thesaurus in her general direction.
MONA YOU'RE A NURSE!!! AN INCISION IN THE PLACE THAT WAS HURT AND LEAKING ON YOUR BIRTHDAY.
Fountainhead, epistemology = Ayn Rand
Ancient Vivi loves malapropisms. ;-)
OK, I'm on my way to the zoo to see the polo bears now.
You know, some people throw up the middle finger in pictures jokingly because they don't really want their picture taken, or they just think it's funny for some reason. You've all done it once or twice.
Well, I think it's clear that this guy is NOT joking. He is genuinely pissed off at whoever it is that is taking his picture. And that fact alone makes this picture humorous.