The Things You Said

Words and phrases have the ability to lift us up and make us fly, or to make us hit the ground brutally, in one single moment.
“The Things You Said” is a portrait photography project, exploring the power of words and phrases and their impact on our self-image, especially in formative periods of our lives. 

Through this portrait series of the photographer’s friends, we experience what it means to be touched by a single phrase. 

But also, what it means to not be defined by the views and words of others and how the relationship to the words changes over time. 

It is the portrait of a group of people that goes their own way, find their own definitions and use the power of words to speak up for themselves. 

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In its online version, the project only displays one portrait per person, side by side with a phrase that has been said to them, connected, yet impossible to look at the phrase and portrait at the same time, which enhances the stand-alone personality of the person disconnected from the phrase.

The print version of the project follows the same concept, using semi-transparent paper to lay the phrase over the person’s image, creating a connection, yet one has to lift the phrase in order to actually see the picture – therefore automatically in disconnection. Additionally, the print edition features more images per person and text fragments of their personal experiences and connections to the phrase.