| Abstract | The documentary film "Life in a Day" premiered in 2011. Director Kevin Macdonald constructed the movie entirely from YouTube videos submitted specifically to be included in the film. Billed as "The Story of a Single Day on Earth," the documentary combines video clips from all over the world filmed on July 24, 2010. In 1955, "The Family of Man," an exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art, celebrated the universality of humanity. Work by photographers from all over the world, both professional and amateur, was selected by curator Edward Steichen to appear in the exhibition. The massive show highlighted the basic elements of human existence from birth to death, and everything in between, along with addressing more amorphous topics such as justice and hope. "Life in a Day" and "The Family of Man" differ significantly in format and in less obvious ways, but similarities between the two projects also abound. Both emerge from a curatorial process that involves selecting from the work of many contributors to create a larger whole. The film and the exhibition also share similarities in the theme of a global world represented by images of everyday people. A thorough examination and comparison of both "Life in a Day" and "The Family of Man" show they share common practices and construct a similar point of view, providing the public with a means of accessing the universal in the particular and discerning common bonds across language, culture, and political boundaries |
