Photo series: everything someone touches in one day
Tuesday 27 March 2018, 14:41 by Elvira Smit | 4,638 views | 0 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
Imagine putting together everything you touched in one day and taking a photo of it. What does that photo say about you and your life? Paula Zuccotti put this idea into practice.
This resulted in a series of photos in which you seem to be able to understand the person behind them remarkably well.
A life in belongings
Getting to know people based on what they hold in their hands is not a new concept. In fact, it is the only way to understand how our distant ancestors lived. Archaeologists reconstruct entire lives from excavated pots, jewellery and shoes.
Paula Zuccotti essentially does the same thing, but with living people. She asked a varied group of people to carefully keep track of what they touched in one day. She then photographed it. The viewer can construct the person behind it.
Recognising someone by their belongings
In every photo, Zuccotti gives the person's name, age, profession and place of residence. It is more fun not to read that information straight away, but to try to guess it.
The photo above does not make that too difficult. The mountains of children's toys give away that we are looking at a toddler.
The photo below reveals the person behind it less quickly. In any case, I see a woman with a sense of style. All the items in her life seem to have been carefully chosen and fit seamlessly into the same style.
I thought she had Scandinavian roots, but it turns out she is a film director from Los Angeles.
We surround ourselves with objects all day. We carry things around and leave things behind. All those things relate to us.
What stands out to me is that even the objects we need to survive, such as food and clothing, are just as much part of our expression. Everything contributes to the image we have of ourselves or want to project.
Alongside the things we need, we also like touching things we are emotionally connected to, such as the toddler's teddy bear, things we use to achieve something, such as a surfboard, and things that allow us to express ourselves creatively.
How were the photos made?
Zuccotti travelled across six continents and looked for people willing to document what they had touched during the day for 24 hours.
Using the list they provided, Zuccotti collected all the objects and placed them in the order in which the person had touched them. She placed each collection on a canvas measuring 4 by 2.7 metres. She mounted her camera 4 metres above it, directly overhead.
What I am still missing
The series offers a lovely glimpse into the diversity of belongings, lives and therefore the people themselves. What I think would have been even more fun is if the photographer had also taken portraits.
The big question would then be whether you could match the portraits to the belongings. Only then would you really know whether you can recognise someone by their things.
Belongings, but in a different way
There are more interesting photo series about the role of belongings in our lives. Margeaux Walter, for example, photographed people in an over-the-top IKEA environment. The person disappears completely into it and has become subordinate to their mass-produced interior.
Recently, I wrote on my blog Kronkeling about a photographers' collective that collects items of the same colour in the American supermarket Walmart, arranges them artistically, takes a photo, and then leaves again. What remains are surprised Walmart employees.
About the author
Ik heb een eigen fotografieblog, Kronkeling. Daar schrijf ik om de week twee artikelen. Over hoe je je blik kunt scherpen, je creativiteit kunt aanwakkeren, en over fotografen die mij inspireren. Geen technische zaken, wél over hoe je leert kijken. En dat blijkt nog een hele klus. Een mooi startpunt zijn de Kronkeltips, die vind je hier.
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