Amélie (2023)

# Amélie Source: [https://www.maxhaesslein.de/visual/objects/amelie/](https://www.maxhaesslein.de/visual/objects/amelie/) **Amélie**is a selfie printer that prints photos on cheap thermal paper, reminiscent of old instant photos\. The user can tear the print off and take it home, as a souvenir\. Over time, the print fades, leaving behind a white piece of paper\. The installation combines the ordinariness of a receipt printer with the singularity of the captured moment\. [☥](https://www.maxhaesslein.de/visual/objects/amelie/#image-2023-09-28_npire-18_084) This installation is named after[the movie of the same name from 2001](https://letterboxd.com/film/amelie/)\. All the components are built into a transparent plexiglass panel, so the user can see the individual modules that make up the installation\. The code is written in Python and runs on a Raspberry Pi 4, with a thermal receipt printer and some additional components, like a screen, a camera, and a button with a built\-in LED ring\. After pressing the button, the LED ring begins to flash and a countdown appears on the screen; when the countdown reaches 0, a photo is taken and printed instantly\. Optionally, a small illustration or text segment can be printed above or below the photo\. For New Year's Eve, a random text from a large list of fortune cookie sayings gets picked and printed below the photo, so a New Year's prediction accompanies the selfie\. Because the images are printed on thermal paper, no ink is required\. v1 and v2 were built in 2018 with a[Raspberry Pi 3 B\+](https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b-plus/), an[Adafruit Mini Thermal Receipt Printer](https://learn.adafruit.com/mini-thermal-receipt-printer), a[Raspberry Pi Camera Module V2](https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/camera-module-v2/), a small Pi monitor, various buttons and cables and stuff\. Coded in Python with the[OpenCV Library](https://opencv.org/)\. Version 2 got a shoebox enclosure with a status LED and some additional functionality, like saving all images to a usb thumb drive and changing the configuration via a config file\. Version 3 was built in 2023 and runs on a[Raspberry Pi 4](https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-4-model-b/)\. It uses the[Raspberry Pi Camera Module V3](https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/camera-module-3/), this allows for faster live preview as well as autofocus and better exposure measuring\. It also has a really[nice button with LED ring](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3423)and is built into a plexi panel\. The source code and parts list for v3 can be found on[GitHub](https://github.com/maxhaesslein/amelie)\. v1 was just taped to the wall[☥](https://www.maxhaesslein.de/visual/objects/amelie/#image-selfomat_v1) v2 was built in a shoebox[☥](https://www.maxhaesslein.de/visual/objects/amelie/#image-selfomat_02)