Some Photos of That Day

This is an amazing internet find on the part of one blogger / editor at Mental Floss magazine. It's been making its way around the internet for the past week-ish now, so you may have already seen it or heard of it, but its really an amazing document.

Apparently Jaime Livingston took one Polaroid picture everyday of his life starting in March 1979 through the day he died, his 41st birthday. What makes the pictures so interesting (to me anyway) is that they are very rarely topical and as well, only rarely were they ever posed. Most are candid, many feature Jamie in the frame, some are blurry . . . but looked at in order they evoke something that a lot of more traditional art doesn't: they give you the sense that art can't capture it all. Usually the idea is for a work of art to capture a complete lifelike experience, but Livingston's photos make you realize just how much life can't be captured.

The ending (the entire last year actually) is brutal and and complex and sad, as you get some sort of sense that his health is steadily failing while he still tries to maintain a full life. You see him get married near the end and finally you certainly see what must've been a moment only minutes from his death.

You can see it here.