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Time lapse video: Boy takes a selfie every day for seven years

Hugo Cornellier has taken a selfie of himself every day for the last seven years - and he doesn't plan to stop

Kiran Moodley
Wednesday 13 August 2014 16:47 BST
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Hugo Cornellier took his first selfie when he was 12.
Hugo Cornellier took his first selfie when he was 12. (Hugo Cornellier)

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Eat your heart out Richard Linklater.

The director's film Boyhood has been all the rage of the late after Linklater shot a week's worth of footage once a year for twelve years straight, thus allowing viewers to see the movie's characters grow naturally on screen.

However, one young boy has shown even more dedication to the art of recording growing up than Linklater did.

In 2006 at the age of 12, Hugo Cornellier took the first of many, many selfies. Seven years later, at the age of 19, he made a time lapse charting the changing shape and features of his face.

He carried his laptop with him everywhere he went so that he could try to take a photo every day. He told the MailOnline that he only missed 50 days during the seven-year period.

Having started the project way back in 2006, Cornellier states on his YouTube channel: "I was taking selfies before it was mainstream."

Cornellier goes from a fresh-faced face teenager fluctuating between short, spiky hair and curtains to his older years with scruffy locks and a beard.

Cornellier told The Independent via email that the idea came about when his father bought a camera with time lapse capabilities and he began researching these types of videos on the Internet.

"I realized that I could show my aging and growth, since I was such a young age and had not facially developed yet, in a time lapse video," he said. "I wanted to be the first to create a time lapse that shows growth and aging in a face. I started taking a selfie every single day, and never stopped.

"For me, it’s still incredibly emotional watching it. I think about the different periods of my life and it just feels like I’m watching it go by all over again, or living it all over again. It’s almost overwhelming, and there are certain parts that are harder to watch than others."

He said that the reaction online had been overwhelming. Yet, is he satisfied with the current video or does he plan to make more?

"I plan to continue forever. I will never stop, and keep going till I’m old!"

Source: Hugo Cornellier

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