Cory McLeod may only be 31 years old, but he has more memories to look back on than most. From the day he was born, the Dubai resident’s parents began taking a daily photo of him, a tradition that he has continued into his adult life.
The project started out as a product of its time, with pictures being taken on film cameras, printed out and organised into physical photo albums, filling shelves of his family home in Yorkshire, England.
“My dad Ian came up with the idea one evening. Obviously back then it was pre-internet and pre-digital, so he just wanted to do a flipbook, he thought he’d just do it for a couple of years, but once he got to two, three years in, he thought: ‘Well I can’t really stop now,' so he carried on,” McLeod, an event co-ordinator, tells The National.
But it was only when YouTube began rising in popularity, well over a decade after the project began, that Ian had the idea to share the photos with the world. The family chose the milestone of his 21st birthday to turn the photo collection into a YouTube video, which snowballed into a viral hit.
The six-minute video, simply titled 21 Years, was uploaded to the site in 2012, attracting attention from news sites around the world. It currently has 6.6. million views.
“We didn’t really know how it would go, we just pressed upload and within a few weeks, it went viral,” he says. “We spoke to our local and national papers, and then people in the US wanted to speak to us, too."
“It was amazing to see how interested people were, when I was younger, people didn’t really understand,” he continues. “I could be on school trips and he’d have to ask teachers to take a photo, even my mum didn’t really understand at times. As far as we know, we are the only people to have done this from birth.”
Through university, travelling and moving to Dubai, McLeod decided to continue the project himself, taking daily selfies on his phone instead of posing for his father. To mark his 30th birthday, McLeod decided to create an updated version of the video, which took a year to make, this time using technology to line the 11,322 photos up better.
Two minutes extend the video and flash through his twenties, marking some important milestones — from his move to the UAE to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic — visible through several photos featuring him wearing a facemask.
As well as updating the recently released video, McLeod has also written a book to accompany it entitled 30 Years: A Life Lived Every Day, set for release later this year.
“Thirty just felt like the next milestone,” he says. “I had the idea to write a book to go with the video, because you see all these photos but you don’t really see what’s going on in the background or get the full story. It ended up taking two and a half years to put together.
“I think people might see the book and think it’s a nice story, but it also covers some dark periods of my life — being bullied, relationships, anxiety, starting my own business — there’s a lot in there.”
Naturally, there have been plenty of times when McLeod didn’t feel like taking the photo, especially during what he describes as some “rough teenage years”, but he now appreciates how unique the project is.
“It’s such a cool thing, there are so many things that I would have otherwise forgotten about — trips with my parents, things that are hidden in the background of the pictures,” he says. "It's a really special project to have as a family."
And he doesn’t plan on stopping at 30.
“I’m going to have to just do it all the way now aren’t I?” he laughs. “It would be pretty cool to see someone’s whole life.”
30 Years: A Life Lived Every Day is available to pre-order at jmdmedia.co.uk/products/30-years-a-life-lived-every-day
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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