By steph goralnick

6 February 2007

Commonly heralded as the "mother of invention" necessity also occasionally births absurd party themes. See, I like to take a lot of pictures. And I like to throw a lot of parties. But I am rarely inspired to take a lot of pictures at said parties, because a camera quickly becomes a beast of burden around drunken friends wanting their entire night in a digital scrapbook. I was looking to find a way to tom sawyer my guests into adopting the role of official party photographer while brainstorming ideas for my next shindig, and "The Most Well-Documented Party Ever" (TMWDPE) was hatched.

Cameras were a mandatory requirement for admittance. It didn't have to be a fancy SLR; point & shoots, polaroids, film, or even cell phone cameras were all welcome. As an ice breaker, we created a competitive photographic scavenger hunt to be completed throughout the evening. The categories were intentionally broad and/or mysterious so that people could interpret them in many ways:

1. bribe

2. indulgence

3. battle

4. wallflower

5. sloppy Kiss

6. burnt

7. many People in a tiny space

8. out-of-place

9. Andrew Baker

10. no cameras visible

The other party hosts and I elected ourselves judges, and stressed that images would be not be evaluated on photographic merit, but on how much fun we thought the photographer was having when the picture was taken. Winners of the competition would be announced and praised, and bribing of the judges was heartily encouraged.

The result was more fun than expected. Strangers introduced themselves by asking if the other was the enigmatic "Andrew Baker" and an accidental burger charring on the grill became an event to document instead of a disappointment. Photographer friends got to show off their arsenals of gear to choruses of oohs-and-ahhs, and even the most timid were inspired to channel their inner art director by corralling herds of revelers into the bathtub for "many people in a tiny space".

Some tips for throwing your own TMWDPE:

1. DO let your non-human friends in on the action (everybody loves posing with cuddly animals). There doesn't happen to be a four-legged member of my household, but I managed to convince a friend who was busy dog-sitting that night that her obligations could be fulfilled over at our place.

2. DO inspire people to make creative use of your space: coat closets, laundry rooms, under the bed. I hung masks by the bathroom mirror to spur some impromptu self-portrait sessions.

3. DO put your favorite exhibitionist on the guest list. While I happen to be acquainted with a faction of fire performers, a friend with a predilection for karaoke or dancing on tables will do.

4. DO provide props, preferably edible ones. We stocked the snack bowls with wax lips and candy necklaces for insta-photo-op funnyfaces. Mmmm.

5. DO make sure that everyone, especially the non-photographically-inclined, know that it's not the BEST documentation you're after. It's the MOST documentation.

6. DON'T expect everyone (anyone?) to finish the scavenger hunt. It's mostly there to get things started.

7. DO plan out a way for all the photographs to be shared, online is generally the easiest. We created a group on flickr that everyone could dump their images in to and post their scavenger hunt results. You can see them all here (including the unanimous winner, who, despite being unable to meet "Andrew Baker", hilariously reinterpreted his name as "And You Bake Her" and orchestrarted a well-documented scene involving a girl put into the oven) www.flickr.com/groups/themostwelldocumentedpartyever

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