About Andrew
Hello! I’m Andrew, a documentary street photographer from Pittsburgh, PA. I have backgrounds in cinematography, game design, and digital photography. I have always been fascinated with how quickly and severely the world around me has become digitized, and I’m a firm believer in the idea of using limitations to inspire creativity. My personal photography uses a 0.014 megapixel camera with a 2-bit color depth. My intention of documenting the urban spaces around me with such a camera is to show people the world in a way that makes them look at the finer details by not only viewing but also drawing on their own experiences to fill in the gaps left behind by the technology.
About the Camera
The camera that I use is a modified version of the Gameboy Camera that was originally produced by Nintendo in 1998. Even at the time, it boasted pretty low technical specifications compared to other digital cameras that existed. It was mainly intended to be viewed as a children’s toy. Through rediscovering this camera in 2022, I saw an interesting potential in it. If I were to use any other camera, I would be challenged only by traditional conventions like composition and the properties of light. With such a low-fidelity camera, though, not only do I have the traditional conventions, but I also have to consider new ideas like pixel arrangement and dithering patterns. With such a small image with so few colors, every individual pixel brings with it its own emotional weight and meaning.
After a year of experimenting with the stock camera, I began to look into modifications for it. I discovered designs for a new 3D-printed case that would allow me to attach better lenses to it, allowing me better control over focal length and exposure so that I could stop experimenting and start taking photographs.
Andrew Marsh 