Before I Die I Want To…
This Polaroid project is profoundly touching, not to mention fascinating from a sociological standpoint. The creators have collected hundreds of Polaroid snapshots, on which the participants finished the sentence “Before I die I want to…”
The Before I die I want to… project was inspired by a combination of factors: (1) the “death” of the Polaroid, (2) a psychologist’s tool called safety contracts, and (3) a passion to get people to think about (and act upon) what is really important in their lives through this simple, straight-forward question.
Some answers are simple or wild activities.
Some are conceptual and compassionate.
It’s interesting to compare the responses of Americans to those who live in India. Cultural differences become fairly apparent. The most common responses in India involved wanting to study or own a piece of property.
Another big divide: Individualism vs. Community
KS and Nicole found striking the individualism in America compared to the sense of community in India. In India, ks and Nicole found it common for people in a group to give the same answer, whereas in America, people go out of their way in order to have a unique response.
The project serves as a contract between photographer and subject (and also between the subject and him/herself). These wishes are on record, and the creators plan to follow up in a few years to see if people have moved toward their goals. I’d like to see even more countries represented!
I highly recommend reading the project description here. I can’t do it justice in summary.
I definitely have my own answers to this question. So…what do YOU want to do before you die?
May 17, 2010 at 12:23 am
I would imagine the Japanese answer would be akin to the Indian. When teaching there, one of the questions I used on my 9th graders was the typical “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It’s amazing how many students gave the same, (to most American children) mediocre answers. One girl even said “I want to be a office girl.” No one ever movie star, comedian, astronaut or president.
May 18, 2010 at 10:02 pm
I worry that in this day and age, American kids will say “I want a reality show.”
May 17, 2010 at 1:57 am
Before I die I want to finish the three books I’ve started, the big movie I’ve written, not to mention the loads of music still in my head. But after reading this blog, I want to make sure I get to meet this extraordinary blonde girl from LI, you may know her, give her a hug and make sure she knows how much she inspires me just for being who she is.