Jamie Livingston

Jamie Livingston, born on the 25th of October 1956 was a photographer, film maker and apparent circus performer from New York. On the 31st of March 1979, at the age of twenty-two, he began an ambitious project: to snap every day of his life from then on using his Polaroid SX-70 camera. The photographs were usually random snaps of what he was up to that day.
Unlike more recent attempts of similar ideas, such as Noah Kalina, Livingston wasn't always the focal point of the photographs, where Kalina was merely documenting nothing more than his face for six years, Livingston was documenting something different. More often than not, Livingston's photos would capture a friend, family member or sometimes, just what was on the TV screen at the time.

Livingston's whole adult life was pretty much summed up in these photographs. Not only personal experiences, but also everything that was going on around him, including many major events such as the death of Frank Zappa and the inauguration of President Clinton (both snapped from the television).

The most interesting thing I find about these photographs is the sheer mass of them, and the mystery that would surely shroud some of the scenes. I think that may have been part of the intention, only Livingston could explain some . The set was supposed to be collected and released at some point. Probably as a book, or perhaps exhibition. The idea of the public delving into his life through imagery reminds me of Jennifer Ringley, another contemporary who, between 1996 and 2003, had several webcams placed in her home streaming her life to thousands 24/7 through the web, an original idea at the time that seemed to be a prototype to today's "reality TV trends. However, Livingston's work feels a lot less voyeuristic than Jennicam was. While Jennicam made you a fly on the wall, a peeping tom looking into a stranger's house, Livingston put you into his shoes, looking from his perspective. As if you were living his life. You felt a lot closer to the people in his work and you really could feel the emotion portrayed in the image.

But every story has an ending, and unfortunately, it wasn't to be a good one. In May 1997, Livingston is seen in a hospital bed...

On the 4th he has stitches in his head. An operation had taken place. It becomes obvious that the 40 year old has cancer. The chemotherapy begins, and his hair gets thinner and thinner until there is nothing left. By the 5th of October, he decides to get married. But then on the 25th of October 1997, his 41st birthday, Livingston dies in his hospital bed.

The collection captured his whole adult life. From a sunny spring day on the 31st of March 1979, right to the very end. It's like looking through a photo album that tells a story. The project only lasted little over eighteen and a half years, not very long considering how long people live. The story was cut short, by a very unfortunate illness, but maybe it wouldn't have been as powerful if it wasn't. Chris Higgins from Mental Floss said:

"What started for me as an amusing collection of photos — who takes photos every day for eighteen years? — ended with a shock."

Had he reached old age, we would have seen a much slower deterioration, we'd start to realise that story is ending a long time before it does. Hell, we'd all have the "at least he lived a long life" cliché in our heads. But he didn't. It wasn't meant to be.

So where are we now?

Ten years later in 2007, the entire collection (bar a few deemed "missing") were put on show under the name "JAMIE LIVINGSTON. PHOTO OF THE DAY: 1979-1997" at Bard College, New York. The very same art college the project began. The exhibit was set up by his old friends Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid. Hugh Crawford eventually put up a digital version of the project on his website, where all of the sudden, in May 2008, the collection gained the attention of Chris Higgins of Mental Floss who apparently discovered the site before it was even meant to be found. The collection finally gained worldwide exposure, almost eleven years after Livingston's death. Quite rightly so too! It's an amazing and emotional document of what is nothing more than the normal life of a man and his polaroid camera.

LINKS:

Photo of the Day - the whole project.

He Took a Polaroid Every Day, Until the Day he Died - article on Mental Floss

Jamie Livingston - Wikipedia

Podcast on Livingston - on CBC Radio

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Profile on Gigapan - the whole collection as it was presented at Bard College in 2007