Friends of artist Jamie Livingston gathered at the Bertelsmann Campus Center at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson on a brilliantly colored fall day for the opening reception of the exhibition, JAMIE LIVINGSTON. PHOTO OF THE DAY: 1979-1997, 6,697 Polaroids, dated in sequence.

Livingston, a photographer, filmmaker, circus performer, accordian player, Mets fan, and above all, loyal friend, died on October 25th (his birthday) in 1997 at the age of 41. He left behind hundreds of bereft friends and a collection of 6,000 photographs neatly organized in small suitcases and wooden fruit crates.

Livingston took a polaroid once a day, every day, including his last, for 18 years.

This photographic diary, which he called, "Photo of the Day," or P.O.D., began when Jaime was a student at Bard College. The project continued when he moved to apartments in New York City including the incredible circus memorabilia-filled loft on Fulton Street, which he shared with his best friend. That loft was the site of many a Glug party, an "orphans thanksgiving," a super-8 festival of Livingston’s lyrical films, and a rollicking music jam.

In a Herculean effort since his death, the Polaroids were scanned, digitized and cataloged by Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid. Friends of Jamie, a group led by his widow Linda Schaeffer, raised funds to have the photos digitally re-printed on 80 panels. The Bard exhibit opened on October 13th.

On Saturday, friends came from near and far (Greece, Paris, California, Brooklyn) for the first public exhibition of Livingston’s life work. It will be on view until October 27th. The response from Bard students has been overwhelmingly positive.  They love studying this grid of thousands of photos, especially pictures taken when Livingston was a student at Bard. Someone has even added a Polaroid of their own. Friends of Jamie didn’t seem to mind.

"If Jamie was alive he’d have been the one to do that," someone said.

Friends examined the 7 x 120 ft wall of Polaroids arranged chronologically from 1979 until 1997. There were squeals of recognition, oooh’s, ahhhh’s, cries of "Where was that picture taken?", "I remember that day." or "Look at that shirt!"

Photo’s of  friends, girlfriends, objects, landscapes, ball games, and New York City scenes, are interspersed with shots of famous people like Philip Johnson, Keith Richards, Lionel Richie and many others Livingston met in his career as a music video and commercial director and cinematographer.

Some days there are no pictures. Usually he’d write a note explaining the absence. When he was in Europe in 1982 there’s a lapse of 14 days. "He couldn’t find any Polaroid film," Hepcat explained.

"What’s with February 29th?" I asked. There are just 4 pictures for that day.

"It’s a leap year," someone shouted. DUH.

A decidedly upbeat and celebratory atmosphere prevailed at the reception and the dinner that followed. Tears were shed and stories shared about many of the Photo’s of the Day.

A joyful tribute to a man who insisted on capturing one moment of every day, the show is a personal and public record by an artist, who lived his life with immense creativity, connectedness, and close looking.

"It’s like he knew his life was going to be short. He accomplished so much in the time he had," one friend told me.

Bard College
Bertelsmann Campus Center
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504
organized by Friends of Jamie
Sponsored by the Bard-St. Stephens’s Alumni/ae Assocation
For more information, contact info@photooftheday.net