He鈥檚 been nicknamed the 鈥渇ather of the selfie鈥� and the 鈥渙riginal selfie master,鈥� and when you consider Karl Baden鈥檚 obsessive picture-taking streak, you can understand why.
Every day, Baden 鈥� an associate professor of the practice in the Art, Art History and Film Department 鈥� takes a picture of his face. Last month, he reached the 30th anniversary of his project, a daily documentation of the aging process called 鈥�.鈥� For perspective, that means since February 23, 1987, Baden has religiously done the same thing nearly 11,000 times inside his Cambridge home, or wherever he is.
鈥淲hen I do it I think, 鈥楾his is another day.鈥� It鈥檚 like punching life鈥檚 time clock,鈥� says Baden. 鈥淲hen I started the streak, they weren鈥檛 called 鈥榮elfies.鈥� The Internet belonged to the Defense Department. Digital cameras really weren鈥檛 on the market. My reasons for doing it were a lot different than people鈥檚 reasons for doing selfies today.鈥澛�
Baden had no expectations for the project when he started, other than to make it a lifelong one: 鈥淚 hoped I鈥檇 be doing it 30 years, I hoped I鈥檇 be doing it 80 years.鈥� He describes 鈥淓very Day鈥� as a statement about mortality, obsession, imperceptible change and perfection 鈥� one that relies on daily monotonous repetition and attention to detail.
鈥淚 try to make every picture as close to the last one as possible 鈥� I use the same camera, the same film, the same lighting, the same backdrop, the same facial expression,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 do anything to my face in terms of a beard or mustache, or change my hair style. This way, all the variables that could possibly occur in terms of equipment or me are eliminated except for the one thing I can鈥檛 control, which is how my body and my face ages.鈥�
Baden鈥檚 repetitive picture-taking has stood the test of time, travel (he brings a portable kit with him) 鈥� even a bout with cancer.
鈥淚 had cancer in 2000 and began treatments in January 2001,鈥� says Baden. 鈥淥ver the course of six months, there is a point where you can see the effects chemotherapy had on me and you can see me go from normal to sick and back to normal. The only thing that changed is I lost my eyebrows 鈥� they never grew back.鈥�
Baden, who began teaching at Boston College in 1989, is also using his 鈥淓very Day鈥� project as an assignment in the classroom. He gives students a picture of his face taken the day they were born, and asks them to change it around in a way that reflects their birth.聽
One day Baden will long remember is Oct. 15, 1991 鈥� precisely because he forgot about his daily ritual.
鈥淚 did forget that day and it was for no good reason. I was teaching at both Boston College and the Rhode Island School of Design at the time and as I was driving down to Providence, I realized I hadn鈥檛 taken my picture yet, so I made a mental note to do so when I got home. But I forgot and that was that.鈥�
There鈥檚 no end date for his project, says Baden.
鈥淚 hope people see a little bit of what I see in doing it and what that is,鈥� says Baden. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 have to do with the current selfie-sharing craze but the idea that photography at its most basic and most essential function is to record something in space over the passage of time.聽
鈥淚鈥檇 also like viewers to see someone documenting something that is almost imperceptible in his life, the day-to-day change culminating in the changes over years and decades, which is something we all go through. This project serves a very basic purpose. If they can see that, I think that would satisfy me.鈥澛�
鈥揝ean Hennessey / University Communications