Ultimate Urban Project Part 1:
Desiree Palmen and Oooms version
I'm starting my Urban Camouflage Project right now, but first, let's talk about what, how and why Urban Camouflage.
Desiree Palmen is a photographer witha great interest in creativity and urban camouflage. This sets her subjects in before photographing them.
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| Jerusalem 2006/07 |
The Dutch Artist lives and works in Rotterdam, NL. Many of her pieces are based around the idea of camouflage/the act of being unseen/undetected.
To create specific suits, she has to find good places to take photos. Then she took a photo of the area, then grabs a white suit and paint it with the same background of the area. Then she wears the suit (or her partners) and poses the original location---trying to blend into the space as much as possible.
Here are her series of work:
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| Jerusalem 2006 |
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| Rotterdam 2004 |
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| Rotterdam 2002 |
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| Camouflage 1999-2001 |
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| Camouflage 1999-2001 |
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| Berlin 2011/12 |
Oooms, a Dutch design (Desiree also supported it), has developed a clever City Hideout, a portable temporary dwelling made to fit one seated adult.
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| City Hideout |
It's more like a box costume but with a whole lot of details and camouflage. It can be easily assembled on any corner or rooftop as the ultimate urban camouflage. Once you're inside, you'll immediately disappear.
These are their examples:
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| Teslar Logistics |
This one is an ongoing experiment in subversive urban camouflage. In essence, the faux company covers its vehicles in official-looking labels, signs and warning labels to make it seem like an official vehicle of some kind. So it can be an official police car, fire department's vehicle or a cool car.
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| A Grass-Covered Car |
This is even more conspicuous and stand out in a typical urban setting, quite the opposite of the urban security camouflage above, but placed in a public park or similarly green location it could blend into the background quite well.
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| Camouflage House |
Thos house would, like the car above, require a more wooded location for success as camouflage but in a forested setting it clearly blends in amazingly except for pinpoints of lights from the interior.
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| The Car Tent |
Sure, it doesn't look much like a car, but it isn't supposed to. Instead, it mimics a car cover which is far more plausible so long as it doesn't get rear-ended. This provides a long-term solution, though, to people who want to plan this project.
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| Coke Machine Camouflage |
This is an amazingly portable work of urban art camouflage by Aya Tsukoika and unfolds from a simple red skirt. It may not be enough to fool people, but perhaps it would work in a crowded downtown with lights, images and other commercial urban artifacts.
Why Urban Camouflage?
It's not just another type of photography. It's a new technology. In fact, it inspired the army to make green camouflage as their uniform in battle, and as their face paint while hiding in the grass. It's also great for photography because you can BE nature. Besides, it feels nice to be a tree or just a Coke machine once in a while.
