I was struck this week by a couple of different Web sites pointing to the work of two photographers who did a remarkable job chronicling a subject over an extended period.
The site Very Short List shines a light on photographer Jack Radcliffe and his portfolio documenting the life of his daughter Alison, from infancy to adulthood. The black and white photos are beautiful as they capture the many phases of Alison's life. "I wanted to photograph her in all her extremes," Radcliffe writes in his introduction, “and to be part of these times in her life without judging or censoring.” See the work here.
The blog Mental Floss shares the story of Jamie Livingston, a New York man who took a Polaroid every day for 18 years, from March 31, 1979 through October 25, 1997. Livingston captures his friends, himself and his life up until his 41st birthday -- the day he died. Here's a link to the site where all the photos live. They're not remarkable images technically speaking, but it's very moving to look through all the months over all those years and see the progression, from the mundane to the monumentally sad.
