"My Dream is to Grow Up as Fast as Possible"

Photographer Captures Portraits And Dreams Of People From 1 To 100 Years Of Age
By: Katherine Brooks
Source: Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/27/100-years-project_n_6763534.html?utm_hp_ref=arts

     In the eyes of an artist, there may often seem nothing more perplexing and variable than people, who are often the inspiration for visions and works of art alike. And it is more often than not that the artist is working to depict an idea through their work, a story of people themselves. In the eyes of Danish photographer Keen Heick-Abildhauge, few cultures interest him more than that of the people of Russia,  a mass of diversity and life. Living there for some time, he managed to gain an insight into the lives of many of the people of the country, hearing stories, hopes, aspirations, daily accounts from those of any age. Yet the stories themselves "were complex, often so much that mere words didn't accurately capture their essences" (Brooks, 1). And with this failure to of verbal expression, Heick-Abildhauge turned to the world of photographs, depicting individuals ages one to one hundred (230 people in total), who shared with him their own stories, their own desires, experiences, what they hoped to be or no longer were. Through his photographs Heick-Abildhauge did not merely depict 230 disconnected individuals with 230 unrelated stories of their own, but rather a single story "of people living and growing in Russia today" (Brooks, 1), all sharing a queer similarity and life of a kindred nature.
       In the life span of individuals, they see much, feeling as though they know themselves most, and fully understand their beings in the present moment. Yet a majority of humanity, falling under this category, fails to notice the one single aspect most characteristic of an individual's lifespan and life itself: change. It is through Heick-Abildhauge's photographs where one is able to perceive this, how the individual human grows and progresses, not as a single being, but as a people. Throughout his work, one sees not the life-span of a single individual, but that of a hundred seemingly disparate ones, each consecutively older than the next. Yet it is through such diverse individuals, even, where one is most able to perceive the concept of growth and progression, feeling as though the one hundred depicted individuals are merely one in the same. As the dreams and aspirations of those newly born into the world, humble and light-hearted with no rather serious intentions in mind, progress with mid-age turning into inspiring motives, it is the addition of several more decades that brings these hopes back to their original state, and the people back to the children they used to be.

4 Years- Daniel; Place of birth : Yerevan, Profession: Goes to kindergarten, Passion or Dream: My dream is to grow up as fast as possible

 18 Years- Yulia; Place of birth: Obninsk, Profession: Student, Passion or Dream: I want to live until I am 100 years old. I also want to see new things and how they change during the time. I like to feel Russian

32 Years- Artem; Place of birth: Leningrad, Profession: Head of the cardiology department, Passion or Dream: I would like to become a member of the Russian Academy of Medical Science

70 Years- Vladimir; Place of birth: Malahovka, Profession: Driver, Passion or Dream: I want to have a long life

97 Years- Petr; Place of birth: Ural, Profession: Electrician, retired colonel, Passion or Dream: I dream of living for more than 100 years

98 Years- Roza; Place of birth: Gomel, Profession: Factory worker, Passion or Dream:I already have everything – everything that I would like to have

100 Years- Evdokiya; Place of birth: Smolensky area, Profession: Worker, Passion or Dream: I dream of walking by myself, being independent and alive