A great idea + creative masses = amazing results

Dear Photograph, Our wedding was the sweetest day, just like Grandma's chocolate." - Onno

Think of all the great creative minds and the world’s best ideas, and you might come away thinking that creative genius is found by an individual toiling away alone. I think this can happen occasionally, but not often. Beyond that, the ideas may be great, but they could have been improved by having other input. It seems apparent that one person can only take an idea so far until it reaches is maximum potential. At that point, better results can be found by bringing in other creative types to add their own contributions. It’s in this secondary stage that truly beautiful and profound things begin to happen.

Here’s an example: Dear Photograph. The idea is imaginative yet simple: take a new photo of an old photo and write a caption that captures your thoughts about the moment. It’s a nice idea. But when this idea gets unleashed to the creative masses, amazing things begin happening.

There’s a photograph a cancer survivor Eric Richter and his daughter with the caption “Her love was my chemo.” There’s the photograph of a man looking down at the photo of he and his wife on a bench: “Thank you for everything we had.” Or the photo of of a father and two kids standing in a hardscrabble yard: “We had nothing, but you gave me everything.” Or two kids sitting together on a Lazy Boy chair: “Dear Photograph, I wish I treated you better when we were in high school.”

The site is only about a month old and displays less that 50 photos. They are poignant, heartfelt, and beautiful in their ability to uniquely capture two distinct moments at once. You can be sure that this will be a hit. It’s nearly impossible to ignore, and in just a few minutes, you’ll have ideas of your own to share. And I hope you do; I can’t wait to see them.

Go visit Dear Photograph right now. Let me know what you think.

Guatemalan sinkholes say, “Time to move.”

In 2007, a 300-foot deep sink hole opened up in Guatemala City, leaving this view behind:

300-foot sinkhole in Guatemala City, 2007

300-foot sinkhole in Guatemala City, 2007

Pretty amazing. And you would think it would be a fairly rare occurrence for something this freaking big to just suddenly show up in the middle of the street. Until, of course, the next one opens up a few years later and swallows a three story building. Oh, and this one is about 60 feet across and more than 300 feet deep:

300-foot sinkhole in Guatemala City, opened 2010

300-foot sinkhole in Guatemala City, opened 2010

It seems obvious to me that aliens are perfecting their laser drilling from space.

Not quite the same, but two related stories:

An Amazing Kid

Ben Underwood, a 14-year-old from Sacramento, California, has completely blown me away. This young man lost both of this eyes to cancer when he was two, but he hasn’t let his “handicap” slow him down in the slightest. Ben has taught himself to use echolocation to know what’s around him. He’s truly amazing. Watch this video, and remember Ben next time you hear someone say “can’t”.

[See the video from CBS]
[Read The Boy Who Sees With Sound from People Magazine]