Project: Upon turning 50 years old on August 16, 2020, Dave Olson (me, hello) is posting a photo (or maybe photos) a day / per year – starting with 1970 with intent of chronicling existence through various primary evidence sourced from studio portraits, class photos, ID / passport photos, or occasionally other “casual/group/random” shots when the above don’t exist in my archive (note: not “artificial intelligence,” really me, pulled from shoeboxes, journals, wallets and whatnot – diligently scanned and dated via glasses and haircuts, lightly annotated).
#daveo50 ~ 1976 / Surrey, BCProject: Upon turning 50 years old on August 16, 2020, Dave Olson (me, hello) is posting a photo a day per years staring with 1970 on June 17 with intent of chronicling existence through various evidence. Primarily sourced from studio portraits, class photos, ID / passport photos, or occasionally other “casual/group/random” shots when the above don’t exist in my archive (note: not “artificial intelligence,” really me, pulled from shoeboxes, journals, wallets and whatnot – diligently scanned and dated via glasses and haircuts, lightly annotated).
Project: Upon turning 50 years old on August 16, 2020, Dave Olson (me, hello) is posting a photo (or maybe photos) a day / per year – starting with 1970 with intent of chronicling existence through various primary evidence sourced from studio portraits, class photos, ID / passport photos, or occasionally other “casual/group/random” shots when the above don’t exist in my archive (note: not “artificial intelligence,” really me, pulled from shoeboxes, journals, wallets and whatnot – diligently scanned and dated via glasses and haircuts, lightly annotated).
#daveo50 ~ 1974 / Lansing, Michigan or Surrey, BC or…?Project: Upon turning 50 years old on August 16, 2020, Dave Olson (me, hello) is posting a photo (or maybe photos) a day / per year – starting with 1970 with intent of chronicling existence through various primary evidence sourced from studio portraits, class photos, ID / passport photos, or occasionally other “casual/group/random” shots when the above don’t exist in my archive (note: not “artificial intelligence,” really me, pulled from shoeboxes, journals, wallets and whatnot – diligently scanned and dated via glasses and haircuts, lightly annotated).
#daveo50 ~ 1973 / Lansing, Michigan (likely)Project: Upon turning 50 years old on August 16, 2020, Dave Olson (me, hello) is posting a photo (or maybe photos) a day / per year – starting with 1970 with intent of chronicling existence through various primary evidence sourced from studio portraits, class photos, ID / passport photos, or occasionally other “casual/group/random” shots when the above don’t exist in my archive (note: not “artificial intelligence,” really me, pulled from shoeboxes, journals, wallets and whatnot – diligently scanned and dated via glasses and haircuts, lightly annotated).
#daveo50 ~ 1972 / Eugene, OregonProject: Upon turning 50 years old on August 16, 2020, Dave Olson (me, hello) is posting a photo a day per years staring with 1970 on June 17 with intent of chronicling existence through various evidence. Primarily sourced from studio portraits, class photos, ID / passport photos, or occasionally other “casual/group/random” shots when the above don’t exist in my archive (note: not “artificial intelligence,” really me, pulled from shoeboxes, journals, wallets and whatnot – diligently scanned and dated via glasses and haircuts, lightly annotated).
Project: Upon turning 50 years old on August 16, 2020, Dave Olson (me, hello) is posting a photo (or maybe photos) a day / per year – starting with 1970 with intent of chronicling existence through various primary evidence sourced from studio portraits, class photos, ID / passport photos, or occasionally other “casual/group/random” shots when the above don’t exist in my archive (note: not “artificial intelligence,” really me, pulled from shoeboxes, journals, wallets and whatnot – diligently scanned and dated via glasses and haircuts, lightly annotated).
Project: Upon turning 50 years old on August 16, 2020, Dave Olson (me, hello) is posting a photo a day per years staring with 1970 on June 17 with intent of chronicling existence through various evidence. Primarily sourced from studio portraits, class photos, ID / passport photos, or occasionally other “casual/group/random” shots when the above don’t exist in my archive (note: not “artificial intelligence,” really me, pulled from shoeboxes, journals, wallets and whatnot – diligently scanned and dated via glasses and haircuts, lightly annotated).
#daveo50 Personal Archeology Project / June 26 ~ Aug. 16 (business cards, Vancouver years)
Gist: #daveo50 Personal Archeology Exhibit
With 50th birthday impending and a son on the way (update, born June 23rd!) and the assemblage and reclamation from storage lockers of many life artifacts (plus coupled with parent’s recent passing which resulted in more items) AND the grace of a 150+ year old “kura” grain barn now studio/atelier, whilst in the bath i figured i would do a special exhibit of sorts.
Noting most years i do something creative around my birthday (ex: flying high board game collage, F Varley essay series, Uncle Weed book, Forgotten Vancouver stories video…) and since b-day is in the middle of dog days of splendid summer, usually slips by largely unnoticed.
As such, the project is for my own amusement, for posterity, for curiosity seekers, for my kid(s) to get to know me, and to compile a “life of making” into a “made thing” of its own / as well as giving a modicum of respect to “past self” to spark “future self” to carry on making art every day.
Inspiration gleaned from many places of exhibits by Douglas Coupland and of Hergé artifacts are significant sparks (evidence of both in this archive).
Original plan: 1 year / 1 photo (id) / 1970-2020 = 51 photos
Actual result: 1 year, *several* photos PLUS various artifacts, collections, evidence, ephemera, media articles, publications, report cards, oddities, miscellany
Constraints: Rules are lousy for creativity however constraints can be most excellent.
“don’t think outside the box, think inside the circle” ^dvo
As such, to aim for “connected feeling” and not just a mish-mash of *everything* (especially in more recent years where candidates abound, i set forth the following:
just dave (with some exceptions)
accurate year (figured by cross-referencing glasses and haircuts)
prefer at least 1200 ~ 1800px (avoid low res/size)
resist urge to tell backstory (just too much!), just location and photographer if known
avoid snaps which have natural home in another post/project (i.e. various spiels/jobs/event…)
using various forms forms of photos i.e. instant, photo booths, meta, etc encouraged)
Priorities
Note: avoided group/party/2-fer/crowd unless no other options or special significance #anotherproject
studio/school portraits (early years)
passport/ID photos (ideal for assessing year)
photo booth (always fun!)
birthday/christmas (don’t over do it)
close square self snap’d (modern days)
other * which haven’t been used (or plan to use) in another obvious collection
Logistics: Starting June 26th 2020 (PST, UTC -8) posts are pre-scheduled (usually 2-4 per day, sometimes back-filled if not quite ready) at various times at https://daveostory.com (you are here) until Aug. 16th and auto-magically cross-posted to Twitter @uncleweed and FB Uncle Weed Story Maker page (not profile) with #daveo50 (may end up other places if convenience permits).
Monitoring and interaction minimal as i will be cuddling baby and starting his photo exhibit.
Thanks: to brother Andrew for curation assistance (pulling me out of the weeds / keeping on track)
#daveo50 Personal Archeology Project / June 26 ~ Aug. 16 (business cards, Olympia years)
