Gameboy Camera

Gameboy Camera

Digital Artifacts

The Gameboy Camera is an add-on cartridge for the Nintendo gameboy that has the ability to take simple black and white pictures. The images are stored on the cartridge. Nintendo sold a separate printer that used thermal paper, so photographers can print out their pictures. The software for the camera is very playful and surprisingly deep, with options for different frames, image effects and even a couple of simple games. The Nintendo Gameboy camera has become iconic for its limitations. It has a thriving community of users, and there are applications for iOS and Android that emulate it's look. The camera is interesting because it represents a digital aesthetic brought about by technology limitations which becomes something that is valued, in a similar way as other "retro digital" art, such as pixel art. The thumbnail view here clips off the top and bottom of the image, so continue to click on the image until you see the full view.

Hal Meeks

Hal Meeks