Artist Statement:
The photographs for this portrait series were taken in various locations around the world between 1987 and 2005.
The Gerontology Research Group estimates there are 250,000 centenarians (people 100 years and older) currently living in the world. In rare instances, people live to 110 years and beyond, inspiring a new demographic label: supercentenarian. The Gerontology Research Group, through rigorous investigation of records, acknowledges about 65 supercentenarians, and estimates that about 350 are alive worldwide today.
The idea to photograph people who have lived in three centuries evolved over the course of the project. First, I was simply interested in taking portraits of people who appear worn beyond their years by living extraordinarily hard lives. Those experiences drew me to centenarians, and on to supercentenarians and their stories.
The experience of talking with a 110-year-old man whose father stood next to Abraham Lincoln during the Gettysburg Address does not easily lend itself to words. A photograph seemed appropriate.
-- Mark Story, September, 2005
Number of photographs: 60
Frame sizes: 22x25 inches, 4 crates
Linear feet: 240
Rental fee: $3000 for 8 weeks
EXHIBITION SCHEDULE:
January 22 nd , 2010 – April 17 th , 2010
Paul and Lulu Hilliard University art Museum, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
