He Took a Polaroid Every Day, Until the Day He Died
by Chris Higgins
Yesterday I came across a slightly mysterious website — a collection of Polaroids, one per day, from March 31, 1979 through October 25, 1997. There's no author listed, no contact info, and no other indication as to where these came from. So, naturally, I started looking through the photos. I was stunned by what I found.
In 1979 the photos start casually, with pictures of friends, picnics, dinners, and so on. Here's an example from April 23, 1979 (I believe the photographer of the series is the man in the left foreground in this picture):
Throughout early 1997, we start to see the photographer himself more and more often. Sometimes his face is obscured behind objects. Other times he's passed out on the couch. When he's shown with people, he isn't smiling. On May 2 1997, something bad has happened:
By May 4, 1997, it's clear that he has cancer:
http://photooftheday.hughcrawford.com/
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Hugh Crawford and Photo-of-the-Day on A Standardized Test
Remember this article about Jamie Livingston's Photo-of-the-Day in the Guardian last year. Well, now this article is being used in an English language standardized test in Spain.
[...]Sunday, October 12, 2008
18 Years and 6,000 Photos Later: Jamie in the Times
Get the real paper edition of the Times today so you can see The City section story on page 4, The Days of His Life: 18 Years and 6,000 photos later, one man's chronicle of his times. It's big and lovely. The website doesn't do it justice. Here's an excerpt:
The narrative that unfolds between those two images tells the story not only of the friendships Mr. Livingston forged over the years but also the evolution of a city. It charts New York's progression from an era of urban decay and fiscal crisis to a place characterized by the economic recovery that had arrived by the time of Mr. Livingston's death, of melanoma, in 1997. This was especially true downtown, where he lived for much of the period covered in the photographs.
Before Mr. Livingston died, his friends Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid promised they would not let the project die with him. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of their friend's death, they digitally photographed the Polaroids and reproduced them for an exhibition at Bard, in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.
October 12, 2008 in Jamie Livingston | Permalink | Comments (2)
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Jamie Livingston in the New York Times City Section
Here's the article by David Shaftel which is on the City Visible page of The City section of the New York Times (October 12th, 2008):
AS a senior at Bard College in 1979, Jamie Livingston acquired a Polaroid camera. After a few weeks, he noticed that he was taking about one picture a day, and shortly thereafter he decided to continue doing so.
The project, which quickly evolved into something of an obsession, began with a snapshot of Mindy Goldstein, Mr. Livingston's girlfriend at the time, along with another friend, both of them smiling at something outside the frame. It ended 18 years and more than 6,000 photos later with a self-portrait of the photographer on his deathbed on his 41st birthday.
The narrative that unfolds between those two images tells the story not only of the friendships Mr. Livingston forged over the years but also the evolution of a city. It charts New York's progression from an era of urban decay and fiscal crisis to a place characterized by the economic recovery that had arrived by the time of Mr. Livingston's death, of melanoma, in 1997. This was especially true downtown, where he lived for much of the period covered in the photographs.
Before Mr. Livingston died, his friends Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid promised they would not let the project die with him. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of their friend's death, they digitally photographed the Polaroids and reproduced them for an exhibition at Bard, in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.
Mr. Crawford also loaded the images onto a Web site (photooftheday.hughcrawford.com) so they could be experienced in their entirety.
As the cityscape has changed, many of the pictures have accrued meaning. "They often don't mean anything by themselves," Mr. Crawford said. "But when you put them all together, they take on a life of their own."
Ms. Reid, who met Mr. Livingston in 1985, cited other benefits of the collection. "When I look at a picture that I was involved in or know about," she said, "you're just sent right back in time and you just remember everything about that day."
October 11, 2008 in Jamie Livingston | Permalink | Comments (0)
For More Information About Jamie Livingston and Photo-of-the-Day
For those of you who want MORE information about Jamie Livingston and his life-long photo-of-the-day project here's what you can do:
--For information, interviews, and inquiries you can email Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid: hugh(at)hughcrawford(dot)com and betsy.reid(at)earthlink(dot)net
--You can view all of Jamie Livingston's polaroids at photooftheday.hughcrawford.com
--To see what the exhibition of Jamie Livingston's Photo-of-the-Day project looked like at Bard College in October 2007, you can go to Hugh's website: hughcrawford.com
--Scroll down on this page for many articles that have appeared about Jamie Livingston on OTBKB and elsewhere.
--Last but not least: Google "Jamie Livingston" and see everything about him on various blogs and websites around the world. Lately there's been quite a lot of interest in China.
October 11, 2008 in Jamie Livingston | Permalink | Comments (0)
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