Artist creates a real life face book, photographing his appearance daily in a project he will continue until he dies




An artist has created a literal 'face book' by taking a picture of his face every day for the last 12 years and posting them online.

When artist Jonathan Keller spent the last of his money on a fancy digital camera in 1998, his girlfriend at the time wasn't pleased. When she demanded to know if he intended to use it every day, his answer was a defiant one.

However, the only thing he could think to photograph on a daily basis was himself. Sitting at home in his bedroom he took a snapshot of his face. The next day, he took another.

Scroll down for a video documenting eight years of the project.



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Exactly 3,931 snapshots later, the New Yorker now has a complete archive of his daily visage since 1998 - minus a few weeks he spent in Antarctica without his camera.

In one of the first, he is pictured as a fresh-faced student with unruly hair and glasses. As time goes on, he can be seen ditching the glasses for contact lenses and experimenting with a number of hairstyles, from closely-shaven to shoulder-length locks.

And after compiling a video of thousands of the shots, his face is now one of the best-known on the internet, having been viewed millions of times on YouTube.

The 34-year-old, who lives with his wife, fellow artist Keetra Dean Dixon, said: 'I like to say that the project began out of spite.

'I purchased a digital camera way back in 1998 which was rather expensive and at that time I really didn't have that much money. After some discussions about the appropriateness of the purchase, my girlfriend at the time mockingly asked if I was going to "use it every day".

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'I stated that I certainly would and resolved to start this project. I wanted to examine the subtle and not-so-subtle visual changes that one experiences on a daily basis.

'For some reason, at the time, I didn't think too much about the long-term metamorphosis that I was about to embark on. It didn't take more than a month to change my mind though.'

Mr Keller, who uses the name JK Keller for his artworks, soon realised that his photo project had taken on a life of its own.

A self-confessed obsessive compulsive, he has vowed to take the pictures every day for the rest of his life.

Every pimple, cut, beard and haircut he's had over the past 12 years have been recorded for posterity in a work which will only be complete when he dies.

'To stop now with be anathema to every fibre of my being,' he said. 'Aside from the first three photos, I have always attempted to use a white background or as close as I can get when I'm traveling. I keep my face basically expressionless and hold the camera out in front of me with my arms as opposed to using a tripod.

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'Since I was initially interested in subtle changes that occurred daily, I wanted these aspects to act as a 'control' while my face was the "variable".

'Since the process itself really only takes five seconds, there isn't much ritual to it. I just make sure it's framed decently, my eyes are open, and it's not blurry.

'The closest I've ever come to missing a day is when I am travelling long distances and the time zone changes, which messes with what day it actually is. I've had to leave a couple of parties early to get home to take the day's photo. And I also have an obsession with answering people's comments and checking stats related to the project.

'It's interesting to note which of my friends mention it almost immediately when introducing me to someone new and which ones don't ever bring it up.

'I think in general, people find it to be a bit of a novelty, which it admittedly is.

'As for the future, I seriously hope I go the route of George Clooney or Sean Connery and get better with age. That, and I hope I'm still alive.'