Museum of
Ordinary ThingsA little attention changes everything.
A vintage film camera resting on a pale surface.
The collectionExhibit No. 006

An imperfect record

Just one more.

A film camera. Many slightly crooked memories.

The story behind the object
The storysincere

Someone was always asking us to stand a little closer. Someone was always looking away. There were only twenty-four chances on a roll, and we managed to fill several of them with a thumb.

We waited a week to find out what we had seen. A birthday cake. A sliver of sea. The corner of a room that has since been painted a different colour.

The camera is quiet now. I keep it on the shelf beside the albums, with its strap folded underneath.

I have a much better camera in my pocket. But this is the one that taught us to gather together and stay still for a second.

A fictional story, written for this sample exhibit.

What ordinary thing would you keep?

Make an exhibit of your own

Fictional sample exhibit · Back to the collection

Photograph by Annie Spratt / Unsplash ↗

A closer look · The full photograph

A vintage film camera resting on a pale surface.

An ordinary thing, given extraordinary attention.

The Museum of Ordinary Things

Nothing ordinary
about what we keep.

A ticket. A chipped cup. A watch that no longer works. Some objects matter for reasons no label can quite explain. This is a place to try.

This early exhibit explores how a photograph and a few words can give an everyday thing extraordinary attention.

Create an exhibit with your own photograph and words. Save it privately, then choose when to publish it. The two stories in our sample exhibit are fictional.