Noah Kalina (b. 1980) is a New York City photographer who gained Internet fame for his viral video, everyday. Kalina began taking a photo of himself every day on January 11, 2000, at age 19. The video, everyday, shows the photos chronologically, in rapid succession, with an original piano score by musician Carly Comando. Throughout the compilation, Kalina's face remains emotionless in the center of the frame. Kalina uploaded the video to Vimeo on August 8, 2006 and YouTube on August 27, 2006. Everyday was featured on an episode of VH1's Web Junk 20 and on commercials for Time Warner Cable's Roadrunner service. In addition, a New York Times article discusses everyday. The article quotes William A. Ewing, director of the Musée de l’Elysée, as saying "Noah’s video represents a phenomenal amplification not just in what he produced and how he did it, but how many people the piece touched in such a short period of time. There is nothing comparable in the history of photography."[1] In December 2006, Kalina posted 21 photos on Flickr showing him posing with Paris Hilton, Lance Bass, David Hasselhoff, Jenna Jameson, Weird Al Yankovic and others. VH1 commissioned Kalina to come backstage at the VH1 Big in '06 Awards. In the televised ceremony, several of the pictures were shown before and after commercial breaks. As of January 2008, everyday has had more than 8 million views on YouTube.[2] The Simpsons episode "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" included a parody of Kalina'a video. In the parody 39 years of Homer Simpson's life flash before him with the same musical score playing in the background. The clip ends with a still of YouTube's standard ending screen, the screen which allows a user to choose another video.
Criticism
Before the release of Kalina's video project, Ahree Lee released a video with a similar theme. Viewers alleged that Kalina had "stolen her thunder." However, Kalina's version started earlier. In a Washington Post interview, Kalina stated that Lee's project did inspire him to compile his project and post it online.[3]
References
- ^ Keith Schneider, "Look at Me, World! Self-Portraits Morph Into Internet Movies", The New York Times, 18 March, 2007. Last accessed 26 August, 2007.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B26asyGKDo
- ^ Liz Kelly, "He Oughta Be in Pictures", The Washington Post, December 22, 2006. Last accessed August 26, 2007
External links
- Noah Kalina's official homepage.
- YouTube video: Noah takes a photo of himself every day for 6 years.
- everyday/celebrity, showing all of the pictures taken for VH1.
- Information and an FAQ on the Everyday Project.
