The Thought Project, by Danish photographer Simon Høgsberg, is a study of the thoughts people have when they walk alone in the street. Over a period of 3 months, the photographer approached 150 strangers on the streets of Copenhagen and New York and asked them what they had been thinking about the moment before he stopped them. Using a Dictaphone, he recorded what they said and then took a picture of them. 55 of the 150 thoughts are represented verbatim within the resulting project, a compelling piece of work that becomes an addictive read.
Simon Høgsberg’s photographic projects put us in mind of the work of Sophie Calle, the French writer, photographer and conceptual artist, who happens to be another lifeiscarbon® favorite.
His fascinating photographic projects have so far included Professional Fury (Four days on the road with Denmark's leading heavy metal band), Copenhagen/Istanbul (Notes from a bike ride through across Europe), Faces of New York (Interviewing 10 New Yorkers about their faces), The Low-Fat Diaries (A trip through Europe for 14 Euros), Blue Lights and Hash Browns (A portrait of six street artists) and The Tower of Babel (15 images from New York). See a selection of images from his projects below:
Simon Høgsberg was born and raised in Aarhus, Denmark. In 1998 he moved to London to study and practice photography for three years at The London Institute. During his last year in London he spend many hours crouched down on the pavement next to Marble Arch listening to hardcore heavy metal while photographing thousands of pedestrians who happened to be walking past. His efforts resulted in the creation of Private & Public, the first of many thematic photo projects that revolve around a stubborn desire to understand and communicate life as he experiences it. In 2001 he moved back to Copenhagen where he still lives today, working as a freelance photographer.
The Thought Project
Professional Fury
The Tower of Babel
"One month each year for the last four years I have been working on a photo-project in New York called The Tower of Babel. Last Summer I gave up the project because I reached the conclusion that the theme the project was based on was too weak. This photograph is part of The Tower of Babel project."
Faces of New York
"Once in a while we see a person in the street who immediately attracts our attention. We are fascinated by the appearance of the person and feel a strong urge to walk over and say hi. I spent one month, seven hours a day, walking the streets of New York in search for people who had this effect on me. I found ten, and asked each of them the same question: What do you think about your face?"
ha..this project cracks me up...brilliant really! imagine if we were all real with each other...what would that be like? for our thoughts to always be spoken out loud and thoughts no longer being contained but immediately dispersed...could be good, bad, but still, honest. we could see each other's true colors and if they're not the best colors, colors can be enhanced but only when they're visible. transparency is a good thing...what a thought project!
Posted by: Leslie | 29/09/2007 at 08:32