Jamie Livingston was a man who chronicled his life in polaroid form, from the day he got the camera to the day he died. There is 18 years worth of images, over 6000 photos and it’s an intense way to look at someone’s life.

When he died, his friends Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid created a site to pay tribute to this project, and you can now view the entire collection at photooftheday.hughcrawford.com.

It’s a bit heartbreaking, actually. Towards the end you can see the decline of his health, you can see an image of his very last day. To think that an artist with such a fantastic world view died so young . . . apparently he lost his life to cancer. I’m impressed that all the way through he was still dedicated to his project, and continued to take photos.

As I looked through all the photos (some are hilarious, some heartbreaking) I realised that for Jamie, and probably a fair chunk of his friends and family, these photos were more than just images, they are memories. Duh, you say. Obviously. But thinking back to all the photos I’ve taken, there are some that easily return the day in my mind. Take this one . . .

Looking at it I easily remember the heat of the day and how The Boy and I got lost down another track before making it to the falls. How we’d had a fight earlier that morning and this trip was almost like a soothing balm. How the water was super cold and refreshing and how we’d throw sticks into the streams and watch the current take them away.

Would I remember all that without this photo? Would I have remembered it two, three, four years from now? That day was nothing special – it was just a normal kind of day. What about all the other kind of normal days I’ve had? I don’t doubt that I’ve forgotten many of the moments I’ve lived. I wonder how much of my past is missing from my memories. I wonder if taking a photo every day would change that?

Probably not, actually. Still, you should check out Jamie Livingston’s Collection, hey. It really is wonderful.