Oral history interview with Martin Adolfsson, 2021
Abstract
Martin Adolfsson begins the interview discussing his youth in Tanumshede, his family history, Swedish education, his studies at Uddevalla, and his introduction to photography. He describes his photographer assistant position in Oslo and his approaches to photography. Adolfsson shares the philosophy of his InsaneLittleProjects collection of creative endeavors. He discusses his "Suburbia Gone Wild" p roject and its origins on a trip to Thailand. He discusses an aborted project on Pello, Finland and culture in border regions. He describes meeting MINUTIAE co-founder Daniel Wilson through the New Museum's NEW INC incubator, their initial brainstorming the app's concept, and an early printed iteration at Idea City. He details aspects of building the MINUTIAE app. These include building a prototype, fundraising, inspiration from the app Rando, and hiring a software developer. He discusses the concept of an "anti-social" app and contrasts it with social media. He describes the impacts of media coverage on MINUTIAE usage and app participant demographics. Adolfsson and Springer analyze their own experiences using the app and its utility for documenting personal and family history
Photographers; Mobile apps; Application software--Development; Photography; Art and technology; Social media and society; Adolfsson, Martin; New Museum (New York, N.Y.)
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2021
Physical Description
25 pages
Note (Biographical)
Martin Adolfsson is a photographer and artist. He was born in 1981, and he grew up in Gothenburg and Tanumshede, Sweden. His work has touched on themes of technology and social behavior. His project "Suburbia Gone Wild," started in 2006 and found him posing as a prospective homebuyer to photograph and analyze the trend of American-style suburban developments in emerging economies such as Thailand, South Africa, and Brazil. The "anti-social media" app MINUTIAE that he created with Daniel Wilson documents the ordinary moments of participants' lives. It asks them to take one picture a day through a 1440-day cycle, representing each minute of a full day. The app also brings participants together momentarily by having all participants take photos at the same time and momentarily sharing photos between participants. His other projects have included UnRepeat ("the world's smallest social media app") and Svetlana ("an AI-assisted photography instructor"). Adolfsson's professional photography clients have included major corporations and media publications. He lives in Brooklyn, New York
Note
Interviewed by Kimberly Springer on August 20, 2021