Facing Time:

October 14, 2002 10:19 AM

Facing Time: A family's yearly self-portrait from 1976 to 2002 is both uplifting and unsettling; a bit like human life itself. How does one separate the morbid fascination with aging from the spiritual joy of growth? Not to mention the element of voyeurism... [From ZoneZero, via Eclectica.]
posted by MiguelCardoso (30 comments total)

oooooo, Susy! What happened b/w 99 and 2000?? Ha! Very cool site though. Love how son #1 slowly turns into dad.
posted by archimago at 10:35 AM on October 14, 2002

Very cool, migs. After watching Amelie, I was struck at how cool and creepy it would be to get one of those little photo booth picture sets taken of yourself every week, or every month for an extended period of time. Then, you'd have a little flipbook of yourself aging. The thought sends shivers up my spine. Like a short story by Poe or something.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:36 AM on October 14, 2002

Can anyone help me? I've been searching for over an hour for two things to add to this post:

1) A website I once posted here, via Bifurcated Rivets or Nutcote, which features nothing but daily Photo Booth self-portraits of the same guy, starting in 2000 up till the present;

2) A website about the ITV or BBC experiment of following a number of people for 25 years, from birth (or from early adolescence, I forget).
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:45 AM on October 14, 2002

Nice post Miguel! My family was pretty heavily documented by my father as I grew up. Not mug shots -- the photos do show more context -- changes in fashion, autos etc.
posted by Dick Paris at 10:48 AM on October 14, 2002

Wow, in 2000, Susy turned into Dr. Melfi from "The Sopranos."

This reminds me of those frames they sell where you put your kid's school picture in them every year. There's something strange about being able to watch a person grow up via 12 small photos.
posted by GaelFC at 10:55 AM on October 14, 2002

Miguel - was number two referring to the Michael Apted series of documentaries starting at 7 up? A short description here.
posted by lucien at 10:58 AM on October 14, 2002

Diego, pal, lose the beard already! Twenty-seven years is enough, eh?

And I think Susy's face has become more interesting over the years. She's much more striking now than when the photo series began.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:01 AM on October 14, 2002

Thanks, Lucien - that was exactly it! It's amazing you found it, considering how badly I remembered it.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 11:04 AM on October 14, 2002

oooooo, Susy! What happened b/w 99 and 2000??

My guess is that she finally ditched the contacts and hair dye.
posted by jjg at 11:24 AM on October 14, 2002

Try http://www.jeffharris.org. he's posted a picture of himself every day since 1999.
posted by eastlakestandard at 11:27 AM on October 14, 2002

Hello Sebastian. You certainly got the looks.
posted by Summer at 11:30 AM on October 14, 2002

Great link, what are the odds on Sebastián
being bearded in the 2004 photos?
posted by fatbaq at 11:32 AM on October 14, 2002

Nicolas Nixon has been photographing the Brown Sisters for over 20 years.
posted by dhacker at 11:39 AM on October 14, 2002

even money fatbag....but he's adorable...

this is incredible--thanks Miguel!
posted by amberglow at 11:41 AM on October 14, 2002

Hello Sebastian. You certainly got the looks.

For a Backstreet Boys audition, I guess.

As for me, I definitely approve of the 1987 family trip to get haircuts.
posted by PrinceValium at 11:42 AM on October 14, 2002

and there's also this guy
posted by golo at 11:43 AM on October 14, 2002

that'd be funny if it was of the tucks :D

How does one separate the morbid fascination with aging from the spiritual joy of growth?

"What we Tucks have you can’t call livin’. We just are, like rocks stuck at the side of a stream. You can’t have livin’ without dyin’. Don’t be afraid of death, Winnie. Be afraid of the unlived life!"
posted by kliuless at 11:54 AM on October 14, 2002

That was the guy I was looking for, golo! Isn't it astonishing how unchanging he is, day after day, year after year? Many thanks!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:01 PM on October 14, 2002

I don't know why, but I found scrolling up the page and watching each of the sons turning into the same baby really unsettling. Oo-er.
posted by robself at 12:17 PM on October 14, 2002

Hello Sebastian. You certainly got the looks.

For a Backstreet Boys audition, I guess.

Yeah, pretty=shallow, superficial, worthless. How I hate reverse snobbery.
posted by Summer at 1:40 PM on October 14, 2002

For another view, look at the boys diagonally:

X O O
O X O
O O X
posted by dhartung at 1:58 PM on October 14, 2002

I can't seem to find it online, but there's a performance artist who managed to photograph himself every hour on the hour for a year. I think he only missed 2 or 3 photos.
does anyone know who this is?
i can't seem find his name.
posted by clockwork at 5:27 PM on October 14, 2002

*laughter, uninhibited by only now, hours later, getting dhartung's joke!*
posted by MiguelCardoso at 5:39 PM on October 14, 2002

Now someone should take these and do a slow morph.
posted by Poagao at 7:33 PM on October 14, 2002

Thanks, MC. It's posts like this that make me remember what the Web, and Mefi, are really for.
posted by ParisParamus at 7:42 PM on October 14, 2002

Hello Sebastian. You certainly got the looks.

Hmm...I'm a fan of Nicolas 2001, myself. Much more interesting--though that headband does make him look like a male Ani DiFranco.

And dhacker, those are beautiful! I hope Nixon is still doing them--the site only goes up to 1999.
posted by hippugeek at 1:44 AM on October 15, 2002

My sisters put together a similar setup in my parents house. For christmas one year they gathered all the family christmas card pictures from all the way back to my parents' first year of marriage and put them all in a single frame. It's interesting to look at someone else change as they age, but it far more interesting to see yourself as you've aged, which I would assume what drives the links in this thread.
posted by turacma at 6:40 AM on October 15, 2002

Thanks for this link, Miguel. Esquire magazine ran the woman's photographs earlier this year (April, I think), but made no mention of the men being included in the series. It's much more interesting to see the whole family.
posted by LeLiLo at 1:25 AM on October 16, 2002

Susy was absolutely beautiful circa '77-'78. The birth of Nicolas attests to that. What a gorgeous family overall though. Miguel, fantastic link.
posted by crasspastor at 2:10 AM on October 16, 2002

A website about the ITV or BBC experiment of following a number of people for 25 years, from birth (or from early adolescence, I forget).

Two separate series: There is a series of films made for the BBC of a group of people documented every seven years by Michael Apted, starting in 1964 with 7 Up, the most recent of which is 42 Up.

There was also a Channel 4 series called Citizen 2000, though I imagine you're thinking of the Apted series.

(And I'm sure you'll find better links)
posted by Grangousier at 6:49 AM on October 16, 2002