An unprintable book featuring two years of research photography, seven hundred thirty days of life captured through the lens of the simplest device you can carry in your pocket; one thousand five hundred photographs spread across seven hundred pages, introduced by a text from Giovanna Muzzi Silva, made available for free download in early 2024.

by PHONE has always been a gift, but not entirely free. It has always requested to bear its weight—the one measured in bytes by your device—in order to remember moments, assigning them a value.

Weight is the core concept of the by PHONE project, which is now an exhibition by Studio Cratere, Milan, where visitors will be able to browse the one and only physical copy of the book and get a picture signed by the author, Luca Caizzi. The Milanese design studio isoipsa designed a hundred 1kg plaster devices hosting a printed photograph each, giving them a tangible weight, to be carried as you carry memories, remembered as you remember moments, and dug as you dig into memory. These objects, as the now-heavy images, can be picked up, carried, and taken away by guests during the opening event.

“Taking time, giving moments weight. What’s the weight images carry in your camera roll? We sought to reclaim their presence, casting chalk and water in a mold to extract a device encapsulating a signed photograph, restoring its physicality.”