"We're leaving disposable cameras around the world. People pick them up, take a few photos, and pass them on - eventually returning home so we can tell their stories."
The Disposable Memory Project was a global photography project created by Matthew Knight in early 2008.
The concept was simple: leave a disposable camera somewhere with basic instructions, and see what happens.
A camera would be left somewhere, until someone found it, took a few pictures, and then passed it on again - until the film ran out, and it would be returned home.
Cameras moved from person to person, from country to country, as their temporary owners carried them across the globe.
What started as silly idea in a dry cleaners in Balham, saw cameras travelling to the South Pole, Greenland, Australia, and Cambodia, passing through over 400 peoples' hands, capturing stories from a wide range of cultures.
The project was always an experiment. I never had a plan, other than seeing what happened.
We started with ten cameras released near where I lived, and within a few months, a few people asked if they could also release cameras.
Our first global camera was released in Scotland, and then our first camera found was in Germany.
Then I started getting emails from all over the world, cameras being found in over 70 countries.
We travelled to the South Pole, and possibly the North Pole (unconfirmed). We were close to getting into space at one point.
Many went missing, of course.
Some sparked security alerts, not least when trying to get these cameras home - due to their batteries.
But every camera which came home shared images of strangers who felt like friends.
When NPR asked me what I'd learned from the project, I explained:
"Most importantly, the majority of people on our planet are lovely, wonderful and interesting human beings, and capturing even only the smallest portions of their life is, for me, endlessly inspiring and fascinating."
I picked up a disposable camera for one of my children a few months ago, at Urban Outfitters.
It cost me £24. I don't think the project would be economically viable today.
Photographs in this archive are © Matthew Knight and the Disposable Memory Project (2008–2013). No unauthorised use or reproduction is permitted.
To request permission to use an image, please get in touch via the contact details below.
Found a camera? Questions about the project? [email protected]