Today’s blog and podcast are coming to you from Japan, where I am staying for 10 days. I’ve been looking at buttons all day, and it is fascinating to observe how different they are from the buttons I regularly use.
Which brings me to today’s creative assignment.
As you have seen over the past week, buttons signal - and tell stories.
And this makes them a great device for some indirect storytelling or, if you like portraiture.
Can you tell the story of a culture through their buttons? I think so - or at least part of it, and that’s what I’ll be trying to capture here in Japan.
You could do them same, wherever you are. What do the buttons you can press tell say about your social status, your culture, your region?
Would someone be able to guess where you’re from if they saw your collection of buttons?
Alternatively, if you’d like to stick to buttons used on clothes: could you create a self-portrait using only images of buttons you wear?
Would your friends and family recognise you?
This is a fun project to share with other people as well. Go to your closet, capture your buttons (and buttons only), create some sort of collage, and ask family members to do the same. Can you easily see who’s who?
Alternatively, you can create button-stories if you visit a museum today, for example.
Or go for a walk and ask every person you meet if you can take a picture of one of their buttons (a great way to meet new people).
This weekend, try telling visual stories through buttons.
Show us your buttons - and maybe we can tell who you are.
You can share your button creations on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #kramerseye.