Brilliant idiot turns 16 years of selfies into epic time lapse [VIDEO]
He calls himself an idiot… we’d say he’s brilliant.
You’re featured in some devastatingly awesome photobombs. You’ve mastered the art of the duckface. Your front facing camera skills put the Selfie Stick to shame. Brag all you want… you’re a rookie compared to this guy who took 16 years of selfies and compiled them all into one mind-blowing video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjSfaRzbAHc
He calls himself an idiot (probably to generate more clicks) but I’d say moreso a self-depracating genius. It takes a lot of foresight and vision to start such a project before mobile phones were popular. Heck, before modern day selfies were invented.
The photos are creatively compiled on his site, allowing you to experience them in different ways:
His name is JK Keller and here are some interesting facts from this truly interesting project:
- He used Adobe After Affects Image Stabilization Plugin to maintain consistency across photos
- The project started out of spite when his girlfriend mocked his expensive purchase (Nikon Coolpix 900) by sarcastically asking, “Are you going to use it every day?”
- He was 22 years old when he started the project on October 1st, 1998
- He plans on continuing the project (and updating the videos) until the day he dies
- He doesn’t smile so the images are objective and similar across days, months, years, and decades
- There is 8 months of missing data during which time JK was a janitor in Antarctica. This is not a joke.
Now this is a guy with whom I’d like to sit down and have a cup of coffee. It’s one thing to have the idea, it’s another thing to start it, but consistently keeping at it for 16 years without some overarching motivation besides self interest? This is a real artist at work.
That being said, JK readily admits that he’s not the first to pursue such projects and acknowledges he won’t be the last. He has even compiled a list of related photo projects for those who enjoy his own.
Do you now feel inspired to dream up a project of long-term creativity of your own? Because I sure do…