SALVAGED LIGHT:
A pop-up interactive photo booth installation
EXPERIENCE DESIGN | ART DIRECTION | TEAM MANAGEMENT
an immersive popup photobooth installation created in collaboration with Bennett Snyder and Ella Blanchard for the Champlain College Art Gallery. Combining physical computing, interactive design, photography, and installation art, the project was built around a custom-built grunge and punk-inspired set and reactive experience that responded to participants in real time. Using proximity sensors, Arduino-controlled lighting, live-feed projection, and a Bluetooth trigger, the installation explored how physical space, interaction, and visual atmosphere can shape human experience. My role centered around leading art direction, visual identity, camera interaction design, and developing stylized image outputs in Processing to bring the project’s raw, vintage-inspired aesthetic to life.
Me on set of Salvaged Light testing out the sensors and toggle switch.
Why this project?
The experience itself is a little absurd, loud, chaotic, theatrical, and arguably pointless, but that’s what makes it human.
Watching strangers loosen up, interact with each other, and become part of the installation reminded me that design can create connection just as much as it can solve problems and look pretty.
Behind the scenes photos from testing stages and our initial setup on installation day.
The Outcome:
As a designer, I’m deeply interested in experiences that exist beyond screens. This project allowed me to combine art direction, photography, interaction design, lighting, and physical space into something immersive and tangible.
Check out the full gallery of snaps from the installation below!
