Thursday, May 19, 2011

The Burning House Project

Have you ever thought... What would you run into your burning house to rescue, if the event ever arose?

I think we've all thought about these sort of things. We think about them an file them away with other thoughts like 'what would I do if I won a million rand?'

Robert Holden's asked several different people this question and cataloged their answers. He titled it The Burning House Project.

In an interview with Holden he said
"It's a conflict between what's practical, valuable, and sentimental. What you would take reflects your interests, background and priorities. Think of it as an interview condensed into one question."

Here are a few:

One:
Hannah Queen
20
Blue Ridge, Georgia
Photographer

Hannah's List (above):
- Basket of family photos, old and new
- Macbook
- iPhone
- Wallet
- Cast iron skillet
- Leather bracelet with mustard seed charm, which was my grandmothers
- Leather bracelet, a gift from my mom
- L'Occitane Lavender Hand Cream
- L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes
- Lancome Teint Idole Ultra
- Letters & postcards from friends
- Favorite tea towel, which was a gift
- The complete works of Jane Austen
- Blue ball jar, filled with river rocks. Souvenirs from a perfect day.
- Minnetonka moccasins
- Favorite wooden spoon
- Two forks from old family silverware
- Twig spoon, a gift from a friend
- Not pictured, Canon 5d Mark II


Two:
Chris Adamiak
30
Milton, Ontario Canada
Maintenance Worker

Chris' List:

- My cats: Indy (left) and Scout
- My late 50’s Red Wing work boots (size 13 is hard to come by!)
- My paddle that’s been on almost a decade of canoe trips
- Engraved Zippo from my wife
- Custom James Mcgowan knife: I designed, he made into life
- Cyma Navystar watch from my Pop
- My wallet and contents
- WWII U.S. Bayonet from my Late Uncle
- 1940’s Shell bag
- My first edition “Song of the Paddle” signed by the late Bill Mason
- 1TB hard drive with 13 years of music and pictures on it


Three:
Frances Shelley
25
Austin, TX
Project Assistant

Frances' List:

- Fancy helmet (because I just bought it) and Bridgestone RB-3, not pictured
- Keys
- Canon Rebel G + Canon 50mm f/1.4: Camera setup I learned to shoot on
- Wallet: Poketo Arcade Fire Neon Bible limited edition
- GoLite Jam Pack: to carry all this stuff with!
- Library of diaries, started writing when I was 12
- Kindle: to replace all books
- Polaroids and Instax photos: irreplaceable
- "11” Macbook Air: the only computer I’ll ever need
- Snorri and Boyd (cats), not pictured


Four:
Laura Pritchett
24
Southern Delaware
Artist

Laura's List:

- The unglamorous but practical galoshes that I wear most often
- A painting I am (almost) satisfied with
- An irreplaceable blouse which has no tag and I have no idea who made it, but love
- The wooden clothes hanger from my grandfather’s closet
- The perfectly weathered belt I am rarely without
- Candid shot of grandfather and his car
- The last remnant of family plaid my grandmother brought back from Ireland
- Keys from my childhood scavenging
- 1957 edition of the Fanny Farmer Cookbook with my grandmother’s and mother’s recipe alterations handwritten in the margins
- The bit I trained two horses with
- Klein bag with my well broken in sable brushes
- The hatchet my great grandfather used to build his house
- The Ball jar that I keep all of my flash drives in
- Family Bible
- Moleskine journal I kept while traveling in Uganda
- First fabric sample produced by Tukula.org with my design for Ugandan tailors
- iPhone


Five:
Rohan L Anderson
35
Ballarat, Australia
Photography & Design

Rohan's List:

- Nixon Chrono Dive Watch
- Japanese bone handle knife (had it for 22 years)
- Led Lenser torch
- iPhone
- Nikon 50mm f/1.4
- 500gig Time Machine Back Up
- Macbook
- My glasses. Can’t see without em so may as well gram em! (yes they have real lenses in them)
- One of my Nikons.
- CZ 22 Magnum. It’s my favourite hunting tool.
- Barbor International
- G-Star Raw circa 2004? Love these guys. I haven’t bought G-Star since. I’m happy just to keep these as the best pair of jeans I’ve ever owned.



What would you take?

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