Artist Geoffrey Hicks has created ‘The Photographer’, which is a robot consisting of a digital camera fixed to its arm. The robotic arm is controlled by a computer. The digital camera uses software capable of detecting human faces to capture images and then transmits them to video monitors situated nearby.
Hicks has used a robot to capture images because he wanted to do away with the emotional bond between the photographer and the subject. Hicks would be showcasing the robotic photographer at the Art 365 exhibition, which is a project by the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.. Apart from Hicks, Art 365 has chosen four other artists whose work will be showcased at the exhibition.
Hicks has also created ‘The Cube project’. The Cube Project consisted of a small white box on which 100 images of people captured in different positions such as couching, sitting, sprawling, reclining etc. were imposed. These images were later downloaded into a digital picture frame, which Hicks has programmed in such a way that images changed depending on the proximity of the viewer to the frame.
Another special creation by Hicks is a light sculpture piece. The individual lights turned on and off based on the movement of dancers placed under the sculpture. Hicks says that the idea to create ‘The Photographer’ dawned on him when he acquired the robotic arm. Many of the electronic parts were missing in the arm and he was figuring out a way of using it. The call from Art 365 for entries inspired him to work on making the robotic arm useful. The grant awarded by Art 365 helped him acquire the additional parts to build ‘The Photographer’. He spent 700 hours to build the robotic photographer.
Source: http://ovac-ok.org