'All images in this publication have been stolen by the artist.'

Gesamtauflage von 20 Stück, nummeriert und signiert

'say cheese', 'please laugh', 'show your smile' - this is what people usually say when they take a private picture of their friends or family. These pictures normally remain in the private sphere of the photographer and are only shown to a selected audience. For this conceptual and experimental photo-series such private images have been forcefully appropriated: individual prints have been taken randomly from drug stores and photo developers, the pictures were selected and then set in relation to each other. The negatives of these images were not taken. Unlike the concept of the objet trouvé, where found objects and materials are the basis for creative work, the images used in this project are objets appropriés, they have been actively taken rather than found. They are documents of other people's memories, memento mori of their existence, beautiful in their own right. By blurring and distorting them, the concept of remembering and forgetting, documentation and memory is questioned.

Language: English