Barbara Iweins, a street fashion photographer based in Amsterdam, decided a few years back that she wanted more to learn about the interesting strangers she had captured on camera.
So she did.
‘Au Coin de ma Rue“At The Corner of my Street” is a multiyear-old project about how Iweins’ relationship to her subjects has changed over the years. Iweins told :
It was at first a selfish sociological experiment. It was a selfish sociological experiment. I didn’t think that just a few times would change my view of them. Then, I noticed a growing sense of trust and complicity. I realised that’s what happens when people are no longer anonymous people any more. We begin to care for them.
The yearly portraits, which include possessions, friends, as well as hugging Iweins, are intimate and lively.
Sign upSubscribe to the Indy100 Weekly Newsletter
The most striking year is probably four. Iweins took photographs of her subjects at 7am when they were just getting up. It was 7pm.
Either they stayed at Iweins’ or she went around to wake the children up.
It was quite an experience going into their house as a burglar to wake the children up.
Funny thing is, I thought I’d have 20 minutes to capture the expression of someone waking up. But in reality, the uninhibited smile in their eyes disappears in just five minutes. My camera was able to see behind the person’s eyes that he was taking back control of his body and his face. The vulnerable human being was gone.
These are the results:
Iweins moved to Brussels and plans to catch up every five years with the same subjects.
Visit her website to see the other portraits from ‘Au Coin de ma Rue’ and Iweins’ work. Here.
Get involved in our news democracy. To help improve this article’s ranking, click the upvote button at the top.