Year: 2016
Major: Linguistics
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Website: in10words.tumblr.com
I met Abby Graham through a friend and since we were talking about exchanges and different forms of contact between people, her Tumblr project came up in the conversation. I kept thinking about it until I realized more people should know about it because the project has a lovely aspect in that it enables people to be heard, while remaining anonymous.
Street: How did your idea to create in10words come up? When did you start your project? What did you want to convey with it?
AG: I was at a BYO before formal with Kevin Crouch and Jack Pilutti and we were talking about our love lives, or lack thereof (mostly lack thereof) and so I asked him to try describe his love life in ten words or less, just of the past year. They both did it, I wrote it down as a note on my phone and pretty much forgot about it. Later that week, I saw it again and thought ‘wait, that’s actually kind of a cool thought experiment.’ I started asking people that night, mostly through Facebook. I had no idea what I was going to do with the words. I was just collecting them, and I realized people were really, really open about it. I think that first night, out of maybe 40 or so people, only one person preferred not to answer because it was too personal. At first, I thought it was so favorable because people want to be heard, especially about this. After talking to a friend, he told me to challenge myself and ask more people I did not especially know, even though the question is very personal. So, being from sorority land where Google forms solve everything, I decided to make a Google form so that people could submit anonymously, and sent that out instead. I got a lot of responses that night (also made a status, so take away point is I did a lot of it via social media), and I wanted to figure out what to do with it given the volume I was receiving.
Street: Was starting the project difficult?
AG: Starting it was interesting. It was challenging because I needed a platform, some kind of medium through which to portray it. All I knew was that I wanted it to be really public, because the idea of sharing is kind of what it all came out of.
I really like photography, but I don’t have a ton of technical knowledge. From an artistic standpoint, I mostly use it as a medium to present other things. I am also semi–obsessed with words written on skin, and I collect words (I am a linguistics major and actually obsessed with words, I have a spoken word thing I do that’s all about how I collect words). I write on my arms and legs all the time, just quotes or lyrics, a lot of things people have said to me. One of my friends once told me that the way I collect words is a collage of my state of mind, but this project was the first time I collected words where other people were choosing what was being recorded. One of the reasons I like writing on skin so much is it’s kind of a tactilization of thoughts, totally abstract when they’re thought, two dimensional written, but when they’re on skin they’re actually tangible and kind of a part of you. That said, writing on skin is pretty temporary, which is where the photography comes in.
Street: Do you photograph the people from behind to keep their status anonymous?
AG: I write on backs for a couple of reasons. Practically, it’s the part of your body where there’s the most space, it’s also a part most people are fine having on display. It goes along with the theme of anonymity, being faceless, but you’d be surprised how well you can recognize the back of someone you know. One of the most common things people ask is if everyone has their own words on their back. Answer’s no, I let people choose if they want their own or not (some people I shoot I still don’t know what theirs are, or they haven’t submitted), and I do at least three or four pictures every time I shoot someone.
Street: 300 people already reached out to you—do you wish to expand your project?
AG: I’m not really sure what I want to do with it past this! I have about 350 responses so far and I’ve shot and put online about 100. I definitely want to finish what I have, and I’m still getting responses. (Open letter of apology to everyone I’ve met and known for maybe half an hour before asking. I’m kind of boundary–free.)
Street: What do you think of the content of the messages?
AG: Some of them are crazy depressing, some super dramatic, some funny, some really sweet. Some of my favorites I’d say are ‘i hate you. but i hate solitude more,’ ‘I think I saw a boob,’ and ‘when you visit you wash all my dishes.’ Actually no, I lied, I have too many favorites. The two main things I’ve learned are, first–off, a lot of people want to be in some kind of love—or at least the people submitting to this do. And secondly, non–existent is spelled with an e. Not an a. Most people haven’t gotten the memo on that one yet. Also, it KILLS me that I say ten words or less. It should be ten words or fewer. Oh well, too late to change it now!
Street: Do you have other projects in mind? Are you involved in photography in other ways around campus?
AG: I always have a ton of projects going on. I very rarely finish any of them. I’m pretty sure this is the longest I’ve stuck with anything! For a while, I was doing one where I took two people who knew each other really well or not at all, putting them in front of a white wall, setting a timer for five minutes, and just shooting, letting them do whatever they wanted. It’s cool to see the way people interact both with each other and with a camera, when we’re so used to posing. It’s a little disconcerting to have no one tell you what to do or be able to smile for thirty seconds and be done. I liked that one, I think I’ll pick it up again sometime. Also, my friends get annoyed with me sometimes for recruiting them as models! Apart form that, I’m a photographer for the DP and I also shoot for IMPACT and Spoon magazines. I have a friend who started a student–run photography company called Oh Snap! that I work for; we do things like Penn–run events, student group photo shoots, or formals—event photography mostly.
Street: How would you describe your love life in ten words or less?
AG: Mostly, it’s easier just to be friends with them.
