late at night he jots notes on any piece of paper that is handy…

“The town of Kremmling Colorado, 115 miles west of Denver, contains 1,000 people. The surrounding area of some 400 square miles, filled with ranches which extend high into the Rocky Mountains, contains 1,000 more. These 2,000 souls are constantly falling ill, recovering or dying, having children, being kicked by horses and cutting themselves on broken bottles. A single country doctor, known in the profession as a “g.p.”, or general practitioner, takes care of them all. His name is Ernest Guy Ceriani.”

– Opening of Country Doctor,  Life, 20/09/1948, pp 115-126

“Three months after my Dad died, I found myself hanging photos on a gallery wall that revealed the story of our relationship and of his death. We had recorded it together through photography and film during his last six months, and it became ‘The Dad Project’. He was 65, I was 29, and two years have passed since.”

– Opening of  .pdf version of The Dad Project, online, Briony Campbell, November 2011

In itself, the attribution to these two quotes identifies a number of significant differences between the two series’ of photographs considered here. Country Doctor exists in a single form contained in one edition of Life; The Dad Project has had many versions – a book, exhibitions, articles in the press (and a Guardian film) and the currently available online version that I will base the bulk of my comments in this post upon. Country Doctor – although the pictures are available with some outtakes on both the Life and Magnum sites – is a singular thing; The Dad Project is multiple. Country Doctor is a 3rd person narrative; The Dad Project is first person. Continue reading →