All worlds
Tech

What if a photo showed ten years on?

Every photo you take shows the scene as it will look in ten years. You photograph your kitchen and see a high chair you don’t own.

2 min readUpdated

Her kitchen today. The photo shows a chair she doesn’t own.

Her kitchen today. The photo shows a chair she doesn’t own.

Day 1

People photograph their kitchens and get back a kitchen with a high chair in it. Or a kitchen full of moving boxes. Or exactly the same kitchen, which is news of a different kind.

Some people delete the photo before anyone else sees it. The phone keeps a backup, and that causes the first arguments.

Year 1

Estate agents panic, then find a new business. Flats are sold with their future photo attached, and buyers argue about whether they are buying the room or what will happen in it. Insurers ask for the photo the way they ask about locks.

Couples take a photo together and wish they hadn’t. An extra person at the table, or a missing one, is ten years of news arriving early.

They looked once, then turned the print face down.
They looked once, then turned the print face down.

Year 10

The first photos come true, or don’t. Some match: a chair, a crack in the wall, a child who did arrive. Some don’t, and people feel either relieved or strangely cheated.

Children who grew up with these cameras find an ordinary snapshot a bit boring. They want to know how things turn out.

Ten years later, the chair did arrive.
Ten years later, the chair did arrive.

Who wins

  • People who like to prepareThe high chair or the moving boxes come with ten years’ notice.
  • Families staying putThe photo says they’ll still be there, and they sleep better.
  • Careful house buyersThey see the crack before they sign.

Who loses

  • Anyone with a secretIt might show up in the background of a kitchen photo.
  • Couples the photo dividesOne of them isn’t at the table.

Someone could easily sell a convincing guess of the future, and many people would buy it. A true picture of the future would mean the future is fixed, which is the part most people would like least.

Would you take that photo?

More what-ifs

If plastic was edibleWorldIf plastic was edibleAll plastic becomes edible. A bottle can be lunch, and the bin starts to look like a pantry.Read If the sea turned to glassWorldIf the sea turned to glassOne morning the sea turns to solid glass. The waves stop and boats are stuck where they were. You can walk to the island.Read If your shadow moved on its ownWorldIf your shadow moved on its ownYour shadow starts doing its own thing. You stop at the corner, and it crosses the road without you.Read If a stranger lived in your housePeopleIf a stranger lived in your houseOnce a year, for one month, the government puts a stranger in your spare room. You don’t get to choose who.Read