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You Can't Handle the Truth
Recording
Get It Out of My Head
No Strings on Me... Yet
Knocked Up Celebrities
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And Speaking of Recording
There are baby books and then there are grand scale life-as-art (or "art" depending on how you feel about them) projects.
I take a lot of pictures of my kid (and in this way I really have broken with my aforementioned family traditions), and contrary to what everyone told me would happen, I take a lot of pictures of the terrier as well. (I always told people they were mistaken. The dog tends to hog the lens, knowing that he has nothing like a "bad side".) My snapshots are haphazard, based on a momentary amusement. With the exception of one little ongoing jokey series, they are not organized and reveal little.
There are some people who have stamina and discipline, who can create records with a kind of rigorous elegance. Witness, the Obsessive Documenters.
Here is an almost 30-year photo history of the Golberg family in Argentina. When I saw this, I immediately wanted to start snapping tiny black and white portraits of my kid, though the urge passed by the time I tried to get him to take a nap.
One of the interests in these classy professional shots of the Brown sisters is how they never smile at all. Not once between 1975-1999.
Both of these links came from a web site called The Adaption to my Generation, which is not about the recording of family but about obsessive documenting in general. The author has found people who are disciplined enough to take on extreme formal projects, often for the sake of art. One man has snapped a picture of every object he uses since 9.24.2003, another takes a self-portrait at the same minute every morning.
These pages are fascinating not only for their images but also for the way they record transformation. When I see thirty years of the Golbergs spayed out across my monitor, I'm struck by the ways everyone ages, the moments when the brothers resemble each other and then don't, amused by those awkward teenage looks that afflict everyone. In a way, these studies remind me of Michael Apted's "Up" series of documentaries (Seven Up, Seven Plus Seven, 21, 28 Up, 35 Up, 42 Up and 49 Up), where he revisits the same group of people every 7 years that he began interviewing when they were all 7 years-old. While really interesting, the project is often achingly sad and I have thought, while watching it, that it is a good thing to be spared such a clear record of myself.
But of course, as Felix edges closer and closer to being a year old, I do look back at early pictures of him often, and find his change shocking (though hardly surprising). For now, I am more comfortable on the far side of the camera, and I won't rule out doing something more rigorous. I just need a little of that inspiration that comes when one is better rested.
posted by Elise at 5:08 AM
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People really seem to love this stuff. Two sets of The Brown Sisters series you mentioned (by artist Nicholas Nixon) sold this auction season -- one was complete (all 30 photos) and sold for $180,000. Five days later an incomplete set (28 photos) sold at another auction for $12,000 more! Admittedly, Nixon is a respected artist and this work is seen as conceptual art as well as documentary photography, but that's still a pretty nice chunk of change.
1/27/2006 9:35 AM
Mike said...
You can never take too many pictures of your child, especially during the first years. Digital photography and picture sharing sites like Snapfish have helped immeasurably in this regard. My son may be the most heavily documented child on the planet and his grandparents enjoy constant online updates of his antics.
Speaking of photos, I love the shot included in this post. Is that Felix?
2/02/2006 9:39 AM
Elise said...
Many thanks. Indeed, that is Felix, the first of the aforementioned silly series. It is a high reward, easy kind of shot for me to get.
2/02/2006 12:48 PM
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Elise said...
