I absolutely love this project! Ok, let’s start with the jealous part. Canadian artists {and brothers} Jeff and Andrew Topham did what most of us would love to do – they got to relive their childhoods… kinda. In the late 1970’s they lived in beautiful, war-free Liberia. They played on the beach, ran around the jungle, and even had a pet chimp named Evelyn. Their dad, John, documented all of it through his own amazing photographs {also part of the series}, labeling his negatives, and ultimately giving this project it’s title… Liberia ’77.

So this is where it gets inspiring/scary. Thirty years later Jeff, a film maker, and Andrew, a photographer, decided to go back to the location of their idyllic childhood and document the changes. As you can imagine, they were drastic {note the two “gas stations” above… yes, those are jars of siphoned gas in 2010}. Jeff and Andrew have created a series of photographs, and are currently working on a documentary. So far I’ve only seen the photos, and the stories behind them made me tear up almost instantly. I imagine I’ll need a full box of tissues for the film.