IN HINDSIGHT

A CYBORG CAPTURES PHOTOS TO HIGHLIGHT HOW SURVEILLANCE HAS PERMEATED OUR SOCIETY

LAST DECEMBER, New York University art professor and technophile Wafaa Bilal had a magnetic camera mount installed in his head in a painful two-hour procedure. The device is held in place by three titanium posts and a subdermal plate placed one fifth of an inch beneath his skin. Once a minute for the next year, a coin-size USB camera will photograph the often mundane view from the back of his head—525,948 photos in all, which can be seen at www.3rdi.me. Although many people he has encountered have questioned the wisdom of his decision (he has to sleep sitting up), Bilal says it only hints at how our gadgets and bodies will meld in the future. He hopes this project will call attention to the constant state of surveillance that has already become the socially accepted norm, but he does cap the lens upon request. "I wanted a way to capture the moments of life that we don't pay attention to," he says.

BY RENA MARIE PACELLA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JESSICA RINALDI