Memory Carda Casio photo journal by Andreea Coțofană

01 11 2026

Jurnal #00. Why Casio?

Sunday 4 photos Launch entry.

  • launch
  • gear

I didn't choose this camera. It was in a drawer at my parents' place, under a charger for a phone nobody owns anymore. I took it because it still turned on.

Placeholder for a photo of the Casio in the drawer where it was found.01 11 2026
The drawer. The camera is the silver thing on the left. The orange date in the corner is the camera's, not mine. I leave it on.

It's a Casio compact from the late 2000s. Around seven megapixels, a 2.5-inch screen you can't see in sunlight, a zoom that makes a noise, and a flash that is either off or far too much. The battery lasts one evening if I'm careful. There is a 1 GB memory card in it, which is about three hundred photos, which is more than I'll ever take in a week.

What it does that the phone doesn't

Nothing. That's the answer. It does less, and that's the reason I'm using it.

It doesn't show me the photo in high resolution the second I take it. It doesn't suggest I retake it. It doesn't have an app waiting. When I press the button, there's a small delay, the flash goes, everyone blinks, and then we go back to talking. The picture is done and I don't think about it again until Sunday.

Placeholder for a photo of two friends at a kitchen table, flash on, mid-laugh.01 11 2026
First test frame, kitchen, flash on. Nobody posed because nobody thought it would count.

With a phone, every photo is taken for somewhere. For the story, for the group chat, for a grid you've been thinking about. There are unwritten rules about what a good photo looks like and you check against them before you even press. With the Casio there's nowhere for the photo to go. So it's just for us.

The rule

When I go out, the phone stays home. If I need it to get somewhere, it stays in the bag, off. The camera comes along, and whoever wants to take a photo takes one. Then the card gets read on Sunday and whatever's on it, that's the entry.

Placeholder for a photo of a phone face down on a table next to a set of keys.01 11 2026
The phone, face down, staying home. This is the last photo of it you'll see here.

What this journal will be

  • One entry a week, on Sunday. The Sunday series explains the rhythm.
  • Photos straight from the card. No edits, no crop, date stamp on.
  • Short writing about what was happening, because a blurry photo on its own is just a blurry photo.
  • Sometimes, other people's cameras. Not yet, but soon.
Placeholder for a photo of the camera's own LCD screen showing the words NO IMAGE.01 11 2026
Card formatted. Empty. Ready for the week.

Guess the year of the next photo if you want. The honest answer is 2026, but it won't look like it. That's the point.