The Traveller  
Wiesbaden | 25. FEBRUARY 2002


On top of ESWE-Tower | photo by Etta Gerdes
About the Project
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english | deutsch
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You can watch me.

For 25 years now I have been following the traces of public webcams: cameras installed in public or private spheres that automatically capture images and stream them online.

I research their locations, travel there, and get photographed. New York and Hong Kong, London, Moscow, and Tokyo: I have been to more than 900 webcams in 25 countries – so far.
In New York, I was taken into police custody after standing around in front of a traffic webcam, later to be interrogated by the FBI.

On location, I place myself in front of the camera. As »The Traveller«, I stare back. Same clothes, same pose, every time. You can recognize me in every image. You can watch me.

A lot of questions arise. Who sets up these automated cameras, and why? What do they show? Are people aware of them? Who needs these images? Who uses them? Does the presence of a camera alter a place? What constitutes a photographic image in terms of content, authorship or quality?

»The Traveller« examines the global circulation of images between irrelevance, information, self-presentation, and surveillance, and the aesthetics involved.

Among many other places, The Traveller encountered the legendary coffee machine that the world's first webcam was pointed at, the European Space Agency main control room, a huge cactus observed by four cameras, countless street corners and backyards, and the inside of a New York police station – arrested for strange behaviour.


Presentation

For exhibitions, selected images are presented as large-format prints or video installation. We published HD videos
»The Traveller 2001-2014« (462 images, runtime 63:07 min),
»The Traveller 2001-2018« (572 images, runtime 76:15 min), and
»The Traveller 2001-2025« (718 images, runtime 90:43 min),
in an edition of 6.

C-prints and videos are available for purchase to finance further travelling.
Contact mail [at] jens-sundheim.de for details.
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The Artists

Jens Sundheim
Born in Dortmund, Germany. Studied information science, then photography at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Dortmund, University of Plymouth in Exeter, England, Ostkreuzschule Berlin and HAW Hamburg. Based in Dortmund.
www.jens-sundheim.de

Bernhard Reuss
Born in Wiesbaden, Germany. Studied photography at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Dortmund. Numerous analogue and experimental works. Co-founder of »esc-space« photography art space. Lives and works in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Contact: mail [at] jens-sundheim.de
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A big thank you to

Sascha Büttner, co-founder of this project Website
Debora Ando, artist Website
Markus Esser, photographer Website
Etta Gerdes, photographer Website
and to many more who helped over the years
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