I have a long-standing goal of whenever I see a xerox machine in a public place, to scan my face. My wife and I did one on our honeymoon in France. The copy machine was tucked away in the back of a Monoprix supermarket in Avignon while we were picking up some food storage containers. When I caught sight of that copier machine, I knew we HAD to do a selfie on it together.
A few years prior I was in Orlando for work, I did a Xerox selfie at the downtown Post Office.
I placed the postage stamps on the scanner glass to give some context and story behind the Xerox. I was stopping at the Post Office in Orlando to pick up stamps to mail postcards to my family.
Idea 1: Take a photo of yourself holding the printout in front of the copier machine
You know what’s missing from my Orlando xerox? A photo of me holding it in front of the Xerox machine. I love that honeymoon photo, because you can see the actual tiny copier machine.
Idea 2: Have your kids participate
I gotta get my three-year-old to do one! Other parents take yearly photos, or mark their height on the doorframe. I xerox my kids. Haha, that would be hilarious to xerox my six-month-old baby.
Idea 3: Have other kids participate
Next time someone brings their kids to work, this is what I’m doing with them. “Children, have you heard of such of a thing as a Xerox machine? No? I’ll tell you what it does. This is a machine where you can make a printout of your face.”
Next steps
- On my walk to work, there is a Staples store that has photocopiers. I should swing by there now in the wintertime to capture myself wearing all my winter gear with hat, scarf, hoods. (Yeah, hoods plural. Sometimes I wear multiple hoods).
- Across the street is a FedEx Office (aka Kinkos). I’ve been there several times when I need something like laminating done. I don’t know what type of portrait to do; maybe just a normal one. If inspiration strikes, something else can be done. I can always come back and more another day.
- The Post Office by my work doesn’t have a photocopier. Is that common for post offices to no longer have a photocopier?
- It would be cool to visit local fire stations to see if they have a photocopier. If they do, then ask the firemen on duty to copy their face. And then I would take a portrait of each one holding his Xerox next to their machine. This might yield some interesting results. (But I’m 99% sure I would never do this, because I’m not that outgoing).
- Do 7-Eleven stores have photocopiers? I know Walgreens and CVS do not.
- My local library in Glen Ellyn should certainly have a photocopier. I haven’t seen it there yet. I’ll have to hunt around. Maybe I would take some of my favorite books from this library and xerox myself with the books.