Meet Travis the Trash Traveler!
Travis the Trash Traveler, or Travis for short, is a 3D modelled pinhole camera that takes 4x5 images. He is hollow inside, so he’s always hungry for new images! He works by having the actual pinhole in the lens of the small camera he is holding. When users want to shoot an image, they remove the typical “action” button and slide out the lens cap, allowing light to pass through the hole. When the light passes through his hollow body, it hits the 4x5 photo paper located in his backpack. To add paper or remove paper, you remove the long pole with the star on it, and this unlocks the 4x5 holder. It has an indent in the holder to ensure the paper sits in the proper spot, and even has an indent indicating the center of the image. I will admit, any changes to the paper for developing or reloading the camera must be done in red light, as the 4x5 holder does not have a light-tight lid. His legs help keep him stable and allow him to sit on surfaces to get a clean shot. His arms and head are simply for aesthetics and have no real function.
He is a big boy, taking 8 spools of black filament to print, multiple weeks to model, and he had to be printed in 16 sections and assembled after printing due to the size of the available printers.
Fun Facts: Did you know Travis is not only an exhibit but also the Logo for all of The Celluloid Chronicles. Don’t believe us? Check the top left corner of your screen. See the resemblance?
The inspiration for Travis came from moving to Toronto from Nova Scotia. Raccoons were almost like a symbol for Toronto, and I always got excited when I saw one. Yes, we have raccoons in Nova Scotia, but you don’t see them in the daytime like in Toronto. I would take pictures of them and call my mom to tell her about them. I was essentially a tourist in my new away-from-home.
When I wanted to make my own camera, I wanted it to be very “me”, showcase how I feel and interact with the world around me. I decided on a Raccoon since I feel we have a lot in common, like hording trash, getting lost, eating all the time, shedding (I need a haircut), and exploring the world around us.
