Hugging Angels

 

I can’t tell if I feel a little creeped out or it’s just adjusting to the next step of AI-ness.

Amongst all the nonsense I see on Facebook these days, I’m starting to see videos of movie stars hugging each other, one the younger version of the other. 

At first I thought that was cool. This is young Russell Crowe from Gladiator hugging an old, oversized version of himself. Here is a young Keanu Reeves Point Break age hugging a 60-year-old long haired version of himself.

Then it started getting creepy.

Half the ones I see are younger versions hugging an AI older version of themselves with wings, meaning they have passed along.

Maybe it’s that I don’t like being reminded of my own mortality by all those wings.

Unless someone is taken younger in life, your last memory of them is the last time you saw them. I don’t try guessing what my parents or my son would look like today — I’m happy with the memories I have.

Same is true with movie and music stars.

I loved the Beatles when I was in my early teens. They were cute and bubbly and dreamy, and, like millions of others, I fell in love with them then and there. I don’t care about the older hippy versions or the old balding versions I see cross my Facebook. I want to remember them as I loved them.

Maybe this is one of those “living in the past” moments.

But what is life but looking back at moments? The moment I type this blog the words are in the past. You don’t need to see a picture of my high school graduation to know it’s still me.

If I want to see younger versions of famous people I’ll Google them or watch their movies.

I’ll hug those in wings when I get there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery (midweek) — Tom Hussey

Sometimes we need photography to create a complex interplay between reality and illusion. Welcome to Tom Hussey’s world.

Tom Hussey is an American photographer specializing in commercial advertising and lifestyle photography.

His “Reflections” campaign was based on a portfolio shoot to illustrate the concept of thinking of yourself as younger than you are.The idea struck him after meeting Gardner, a WWII veteran who was turning 80. He told Hussey he just didn’t feel it was possible he could be 80 years old.Since he himself was getting older, he realized he was thinking the same thing, and imagined it must be a very universal feeling.So Hussey photographed Gardner staring into his bathroom mirror and seeing himself as a 25-year-old man.Most notable about Hussey is that he allows himself the freedom to continue the random exploration of all things visual.The results connect all of us with our younger selves.More of Tom Hussey‘s wide world of photography can be found at https://tomhussey.com/.