GRAHAM BUDGETT 1994-96
Have you photographed this man?
[click-drag the image for 3D view]
A confession: for almost twenty years now [up to 1996], wherever I've travelled, as a sort of ongoing prank, I have intentionally posed in the background of unsuspecting tourists' snapshots - 'putting myself in the picture' so to speak. Studying in Central London in 1977, I got tired of avoiding tourist snapshots, so I started actually posing as I passed through their 'view-shed'. Despite not targeting any group in particular and purely because of sheer numbers, the vast majority of these unintended portraits of me are without doubt in Japan - filed away in albums and slide-trays, on videotape and disc. Now, as a form of apology for perhaps ruining some carefully framed vacation shots, I wish to redeem myself...
An invitation: [especially if you are Japanese] please look for me in the background of your vacation images from the last twenty years. If you see me - no matter how small or indistinct - please email me attaching a small digitized copy of your original image with an approximate date and location. If appropriate, I will include your submission along with your details in a web-based exhibition.*