Man Illuminated by Birthday Candles

Film by Kevin Jerome Everson / For your listening pleasure, I recommend St Cloud by Waxahatchee as listening material before, during or after reading.

Last night, I took a venture to The Whitney and found myself mesmerized by a 3 minute film of a 93 year-old man blowing out his birthday candles. I'm not sure what I was expecting from this piece. But somehow, by the end, I felt like I'd walked away with some fundamental understanding of life. The video starts as the man approaches his candles slowly and curiously, hesitating to gaze at each candle. It's as if he's ruminating, taking in the sight of each year of his life mapped out by an array of 93 candles spread across a sheet cake. Once he's taken it all in, he lowers his head and begins to blow, crossing off each year of life with a light gust of breath. He blows hard but only manages to blow out a few candles. Much to his surprise, they reignite. But the old man continues on, determined to garner the light from every last candle. It's challenging. I see him lose some steam with each gust of breath, each one seeming to take more out of him than the last. I remain so heavily focused on him, subtly cheering him on like a sports fan from the risers as he knocks down each cluster of candle light. Yet there's a feeling of melancholy brewing. The further he progresses, the closer I as the viewer gets to the end. Soon, I'll no longer be experiencing this moment of life with him. As he makes his way to the last few candles, the light around him fades, obscuring him in the darkness of the room. Only a flicker of him remains visible as he bows his head valiantly extinguishing the final bits of fire that radiate from the candle. Through the persistence of the trick candles, he's found a way to overcome, with each moment aging to come to a peacefully triumphant end.