Time-lapse
The Flip-book Of Our Days
His mother was an illustrator. In a blank notebook she drew an image of Johnny on his very first day—updating it daily on the following pages.
On his first birthday there was this amazing flip-book of him growing up.
His mother continued doing this for another seven years. She chose activities he liked and incorporated them—a ball soaring through the air across pages. She even captured when he was sick in bed for days, reading comic after comic.
He grew to appreciate the magic of these books, which emerged only for special viewings to assure they didn’t get damaged.
Around his ninth birthday turmoil arose in Johnny’s family and his mother stopped filling the books. The following year his parents divorced and he bounced between them on alternate weeks.
His father bought one of the popular new 8mm cameras and proposed to make short films from the books. Johnny would flip the pages slowly while his father captured the movements.
Eventually all the films were put together—Johnny’s first eight years blossoming in almost 3000 moving images.
The project brought reconciliation between illustrator and photographer and they all ended up moving back together again.
