Photography Inspiration: 40 Portraits in 40 Years

Brown SistersIt began in 1975 when Nicholas Nixon whimsically asked if he could take a photo of his wife and her three sisters. A year later, they were all together again when he suggested they recreate their poses for a new photo. They liked the idea and have been doing the same thing every year, FOR FORTY YEARS.   created at: 12/21/2014The series which has been on tour for the last couple decades was recently shown at the MoMA this past October and will be coming out soon as a book titled, The Brown Sisters: Forty Years

created at: 12/21/2014My family used to send out a yearly Christmas card (with everyone in roughly the same position) that we could compare year to year, but wrangling six hyperactive children is a bit more of a hassle so our friends received a Valentine’s Day card instead. The only real fun part about taking the pictures was getting to look back over the years and see how everyone changed. I find the level to which Nixon took this idea to be incredibly inspiring, and I’m still thinking about how I can document the changes in my life in new and artistic ways. Thoughts?

created at: 12/21/2014Check out the full gallery on NYTimes.com