Location:
Grand Haven, MI, USA

How long have you been using your Narrative Clip?
I’ve had my clip since early 2014.

How often do you use your Clip and in what settings?
At first I wanted to use my clip on a daily basis, but I quickly realized that it wasn’t really possible. As a college student, I’m aware that many professors don’t like cameras in class, and it can be tough keeping track of it all the time. (I’d really only get a bunch of pictures of a classmate’s back anyhow) Now I tend to use it on days when I want to chronicle my work but am too busy to do actively. As a singer and student in the theatrical arts, I have a lot of very cool opportunities to capture exceedingly unique moments.

Please explain your decision behind getting a Narrative Clip?
Narrative introduced me to the world of lifelogging and after reading all about the product, I was hooked. The camera was a little pricy for me, but I saw my chance when the 2012 moment contest came up. The prize offered for best picture to describe your year was a free Narrative Clip (at that time Memoto camera). After winning the contest I was ecstatic to think of all the things in my life I would be able to look back at.

Describe what is it about the Narrative Clip that you like best?
Simply put: versatility. The Narrative Clip has more uses than almost any camera available to the general public. This one camera can chronicle your entire day, capture a sunset time-lapse, catch some candid shots of your own face, or even log your activity during a 9-5 desk job. I don’t know of another camera that could do all that on one charge and fit in my pocket. Aside from the uses, the camera itself is so small and discrete, I could wear it with a t-shirt and jeans, or my tuxedo, and it wouldn’t stand out very much at all.

How do you wear/use the camera?
I use the camera mostly to capture my time backstage during performances, on my desk while I’m working, and sometimes I’ll hang it from my rear-view and get an interesting time-lapse of my drive. I thought I would only want to wear the Narrative Clip one way, but after spending a week using it, I couldn’t help but experiment with it.

What’s the most surprising and/or interesting photo you’ve gotten so far?
Nothing has been very interesting or surprising, but I’ve gotten a few that seem to really encapsulate some days perfectly. The one I’m sharing here is from a day at my church when I led music worship. It was during a rehearsal when the actual photo was taken, but as it is in most cases, the photo speaks for itself.

Do you have any stories around how people react to the Clip?
The usual conversation goes loosely like this:

-Hey, what’s that on your shirt?
-It’s a camera, called Narrative Clip.
-So its taking video of me right now?
-Not exactly, no. It takes pictures periodically.
-Oh.
-(I usually go into detail about how it’s like having a digital photographic memory…etc.)
-(Person begins looking into the camera and waves)
-(I say something like “Hey buddy I’m up here”)
-(I usually don’t tell them that they can tap it to take pictures.)

I don’t have the most normal friends, but since there’s not really a social contract in place for most wearables so people will grab and touch pretty frequently.

What is best moment you’ve captured with the Narrative Clip and why?
The best moments always seem to be the ones yet to be uploaded. The moment I put the camera on, I’m already excited to see the pictures appear on my phone. I can’t ever settle on one favorite moment, because there are so many. That I think is the real beauty of the Narrative Clip. It helps the user appreciate their memories.

What’s a specific use case for your Narrative Clip that you’re looking forward to?
I know it’s not a fun answer, but I’m really hoping for a lens case. When traveling I wouldn’t mind having a bulky case on the camera. I love everything that Narrative has to offer, but if the lens angle was even 10 degrees wider I would be more apt to use it at a higher frequency.

What’s a feature(s) you’d really like to see added to the Narrative service in the future?
Low light adaptability would be very nice for the camera itself. As an actor, I spend a lot of time backstage, I know for a fact that some of the coolest pictures could be taken from backstage. I’d also love to see some more work done with the GPS integration. A map of all the photo locations on the app would be cool. Lots more development needs to be done on the app as I’m sure all of you at Narrative know =). A desktop app is the one other thing I hope to see in the future.

Anything else you’d like to add?
I can’t wait to take my Narrative to exciting new places. This little thing has made me see the world through a different eye. Narrative, in my book, will always be the closest thing to an actual photographic memory.