Locative media · iPhone · Free
Stumbletown
Photos that live where they were taken. Stand on the spot and see what it looked like last winter, or a decade ago.
About Stumbletown
The story
Stumbletown is locative media: photos that live where they were taken.
It started with a wall. Ten years ago I photographed a building covered in graffiti. When I went back recently, the wall was covered in new work, layered over everything I’d shot. Standing there with my old photo on my phone, I could see both at once: the wall as it was and the wall as it is. I wanted anyone standing there to see that too.
So Stumbletown leaves your photos exactly where you took them. You can’t scroll them from your couch. You have to be there, within about 25 meters of where the shot was taken. That goes for old photos too: stand in the spot where you took a picture years ago, and you can upload it from your camera roll and leave it there. Walk past a corner and you might find what it looked like last winter, or a decade ago, left by someone who stood where you’re standing.
It’s not a feed. You can follow people and vote on what’s worth seeing, but the photos stay put. To see them, you have to go.
Stumbletown is free on iPhone.
Places remember
Features
Pinned to the spot
Photos are anchored to where they were taken. You see them only when you're within about 25 meters.
A nudge when you're close
Follow people whose eye you like and get a notification when you walk near something they left.
Old photos count too
Stand where you took a picture years ago and leave it there from your camera roll.
Not a feed
Follow people and vote on what's worth seeing. The photos stay put. To see them, you have to go.