Back in 2008 , I came across aslightly mysterious websitethat featureda collection of Polaroids , one per day , from March 31 , 1979 through October 25 , 1997 . At the clip , there was no author listed , no contact info , and no other indication as to where the image come from . So , naturally , I started looking through the photos . I was bedaze by what I found .
In 1979the photos start nonchalantly , with picture of friend , picnics , dinners , and so on . Here ’s an case fromApril 23 , 1979 , and where I start to conceive that the photographer of the series was the man in the left foreground of that day ’s image .
By 1980 , we learn that the photographer is a filmmaker . He gets a letter from the American Film Festival andtakes a pic of it on January 30 , 1980 .
Some day there ’s just a pic of the date . While I in the beginning assumed that he just had n’t photographed anything particularly interesting that twenty-four hour period , and instead photographed the engagement , those look-alike are n’t Polaroid at all . They ’re placeholders for days when there was no photo , or the photograph was lost . ( Those placeholders have since been removed . )
Throughout the 1980s we see more family / merriment photo , but also some glimpse of the photographer ’s filmmaking and euphony . Here’ssomeone recording audio in a picture show editing studiofrom February 5 , 1983 .
The lensman is a big Mets buff , asseen on April 29 , 1986 .
In the late eighties we commence seeing more evidence that the photographer is also a player . He play the accordion , and has Quaker who play various stringed instruments . What sort of medicine are they play ? Here ’s a exposure from July 2 , 1989 ofthe photographer with his instrument .
In 1991 , we see visual evidence of the photograph so far . The photographer has beencollecting them in Polaroid boxes inside bag , as seen in this exposure from March 30 , 1991 .
On December 6 , 1993 , he marksFrank Zappa ’s death with this photo .
The 1990s seem to be a good time for the photographer . We see him spend more time with friend , and less time photographing street subjects ( of which there are many ) . Perhaps one of his films made it to IFC , the Independent Film Channel , as seen inthis photo from December 18 , 1996 .
Throughout early 1997 , we start to see the photographer himself more and more often . Sometimes his face is obscure behind physical object . Other time he ’s surpass out on the sofa . When he ’s express with people , he is n’t smiling . On May 2 , 1997,something bad has find .
ByMay 4 , 1997 , it ’s light that he has cancer ,
With his wellness rapidly decline , the lensman takes amirror - self - portraiture on June 2 , 1997 .
By the death of that calendar month , he ’s completely bald .
His health continues to decline through July , August , and September 1997 , with several trips to the infirmary and apparent chemotherapy . On the bright side , on September 11 , 1997 , thephotographer ’s hair begin to grow back .
On October 5 , 1997 , it ’s pretty clearwhat this pic means .
Two days laterwe see the wedding .
And just a few weeks subsequently he ’s back in the hospital . On October 24 , 1997 , we seea admirer play music in the hospital room .
The next daythe lensman snuff it .
What started for me as an laughable ingathering of photos — who take photos every daylight for 18 years?—ended with a electrical shock . Who was this man ? How did his photos end up on the web ? I go on a two - daylight hunt , examine the source codification of the website , and tried various Google magic trick .
Finally , my investigation wrench up the photographer asJamie Livingston , and he did indeed take a photo every Clarence Day for 18 yr , until the daylight he died , using a Polaroid SX-70 camera . He called the task " Photo of the Day " and presumably planned to collect them at some point — had he lived . He died on October 25 , 1997 , his 41st birthday .
After Livingston ’s decease , his friend Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid put together a public showing and website using the photos and called itPHOTO OF THE DAY : 1979 - 1997 , 6,697 Polaroids , dated in episode . The physical exhibit opened in 2007 at the Bertelsmann Campus Center at Bard College ( where Livingston start the series , as a student , way back when ) . The showing included rephotographs of every Polaroid and take up a 7 x 120 foot space .
you may say more about the project , and catch all of Livingston ’s figure , here . It ’s a stunning account of a serviceman ’s life and end .
you could also read the news report behind this place , and my discovery of Crawford ’s website , inThe Blogger Abides : A Practical Guide to Writing Well and Not thirst .
