In the 1950s, Mekas began to shoot his first films, in the process developing an essayistic format that he would use as a diary to record his day-to-day observations. His writing, films, and unflagging commitment to art made him a pioneer of American avant-garde cinema and the barometer of the New York art scene. I Seem to Live: The New York Diaries, 1969–2011, vol. 2, the second and concluding volume of his diaries, contains an extensive index of names as well as a filmography and biography.