Photographer Barbara Iweins loves to take photos of strangers. She has made that the focal point of her photography.
- She has always been curious about strangers.
- She began a project 7 years ago dedicated to this fascination.
- She employs different themes.
She said ‘Since I am young, I am fascinated by strangers. While waiting for a bug, while standing in a line, my eyes are always drawn by a specific person. At that exact moment I can’t stop wondering what he is thinking, what he is doing, what are his fears and joys.’
These photos are from her project titled ‘7am-7pm.’ She wanted to capture the difference in a person’s face before they go to sleep, and right after they wake up.
Iweins believes that our present culture surrounding social media and taking a lot of selfies means a lot more people know how to pose. She wanted to capture them when they weren’t trying so hard.
By taking a photo of people right after they wake up, she intended to capture people with their guards down and in their most vulnerable state.
She had met all these people before this installment. She had approached them all on the street and asked if she could photograph them.
‘When I was asking them five years ago to pose for me in the street, there was a shy look, a bended leg, they were trying to hide behind their bag or something.’
Barbara Iweins
She came up with this idea to try and capture them in their most authentic state.
‘I felt that the only moment of the day when a person doesn’t have any shield is the moment a person opens his eyes for the first time.’
She invited all of them to come spend the night at her place or went to meet them in their own homes.
She took one photo at 7 p.m. when they were beginning to wind down for the evening, and one in the morning at 7 a.m. right after they opened their eyes.
In the photos taken at 7 a.m. you can see how people are still in a foggy state of mind, wiping the sleep from their eyes.
‘I always adored this ‘fighting’ moment when our conscious gets out of the irreality of dreams to face reality. Just the moment before the world hurts us.’
She was very prompt about waking up each subject at 7 a.m. and taking their photo right away.
0 comments:
Post a Comment