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Chris Higgins
The Story Behind Jamie Livingston’s Polaroid-a-Day Project
by Chris Higgins - June 18, 2008 - 1:23 PM

October 1, 1985Many readers will remember my post He Took a Polaroid Every Day, Until the Day He Died from mid-May. It introduced the story of a man’s photography project that continued for eighteen years, ending in 1997. The post became very popular, and was picked up around the world and in various media outlets, including Fox News, the Huffington Post, various newspapers around the world, and over 400 blogs.

Today, CBC Radio One’s Spark brings us an audio story on Jamie Livingston. Hosted by Nora Young, the piece includes interviews with me, Hugh Crawford (Livingston’s friend and driving force behind the online version of the project), and Betsy Reid (Livingston’s former girlfriend and Crawford’s collaborator). This episode of Spark gives some insight into the people in Livingston’s life and details on the project itself, as well as (probably less interesting) more information about how I found the site and pieced together its mysteries.

To listen to the Spark episode, click the player here:

If you haven’t seen Livingston’s work yet, take a look.

Also be sure to check out the Spark site and subscribe to their podcast (iTunes users: use this iTunes podcast link). I recommend these episodes to get you started: #38: Clay Shirky on cognitive surplus, #35: Your Digital Legacy.

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Comments (6)

  1. Why is Betsy Reid “Livingston’s former girlfriend”? Is she not the same woman that he apparently married not long before he died? Is she the same woman, but they didn’t get married?

    posted by caitlen315 on 6-18-2008 at 3:47 pm

  2. Livingston’s girlfriend-then-wife was named Linda, I believe (at least based on Reid’s interview). Reid and Livingston were an item earlier on, in the mid-80’s.

    (All details of Mr. Livingston’s personal life are subject to this general disclaimer: I didn’t know the man, but I know the gossip!)

    posted by Chris Higgins on 6-18-2008 at 3:53 pm

  3. Congratulations on being recognized! I remember going to the site on the day that you posted and being seriously mesmerized for a long time. It’s amazing how quick word of mouth spreads on the internet, too. Wow! It’s also very nice to hear the rest of the story, finally.
    Thanks!

    posted by Ed on 6-18-2008 at 5:17 pm

  4. Yeah, what Ed said!

    posted by Johnny Cat on 6-18-2008 at 8:45 pm

  5. What Ed said, plus mentalfloss got mentioned in the story on wayodd.com

    http://www.wayodd.com/man-chronicled-his-life-by-taking-photo-every-day-for-18-years/v/9250/

    posted by Tdave on 6-18-2008 at 10:46 pm

  6. I just put together a new version of the project presented as the show was hung at Bard College in October of 2007. It is on gigapan.org in four parts, showing each year horizontally with each day of the year vertically. You can zoom into the picture like Google Maps. Zoomed in all the way the four parts would total about 16 feet by 250 feet. Links to them are here at www(dot)hughcrawford(dot)com

    Thanks,
    Hugh

    posted by hugh crawford on 6-19-2008 at 1:39 am

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