Thousandlives

43. Chandler Wilson

admin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:00:43 +0000

From 16:00 to 16:45, Rue Barchon, Brussels – Belgium
Chandler is a 26 year old Political strategist from the USA with his own practice. He currently lives and works in Brussels, he’s inclined to various artistic tendencies (he makes music with a MPC5000, he also plays guitar and invents songs about Jesus even though he’s an atheist), but he keeps his art as a hobby. He feels that in his job he can be an artist and a realist at the same time. In college he used to play football and was also part of the college theatre. He considers himself too busy to maintain a relationship at the moment, so his fantasy would be to have a call girl/masseuse who would have his dinner and whisky ready for him when he gets home from work. In this photo I become that person, but without the dinner.

42. Katya Vals

admin — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:00:04 +0000

From 16:00 to 17:45, Wismarplatz, Berlin – Germany
Katya is an Italian photo journalist who currently works for an online marketing company in Berlin.
She is preparing to start a self portrait project to break her shyness in front of cameras. The project is titled: ‘How do you feel’. It consists of three different portraits each time:
- One portrays how she feels.
- One portrays what she thinks people think that she feels like.
- One portrays how she would like people to think that she feels like.
She is also developing a ‘guerilla gardening’ project which consists of taking over a small piece of land anywhere and planting flowers or other plants there. She will be taking posed portraits of the people who participate in this project & wants to see how these evolve as she discovers herself in her self portraits.
In the photo we took together, I play her alter-ego and we are posing for her self portraits.

41. Ilaria Barbieri

admin — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 10:30:08 +0000

From 11:30 to 13:20, Junker-Jörg strasse, Berlin – Germany
Ilaria is from Rome and has been living in Berlin for 8 months. She works in customer service for Easyjet. She found herself in Berlin doing simple things like cooking, cycling, picnics…
She’s lived in England and after Germany she would like to move to France and Spain to learn french and spanish.
She doesn’t like Italy, but she likes being Italian, or maybe the opposite. She is a simple person, but actually she isn’t.

40. Rocío Rubio González

admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 11:17:51 +0000

From 12:17 to 13:18, Boddinstrasse, Berlin, Germany
Rocio is originally from Ronda (Málaga) and studied art in Granada. She started a PhD of Language and poetry of contemporary art which she continued in Germany and in Finland, she didn’t finish it because of language barriers. In the daytime she occupies herself with methodic, repetitive and organized activities, mainly work she can do with her hands. Some of those activities include making curtains, renovating the house (in the photo we took together we are scraping old paint off of the windows), and taking care of plants. She likes dead things or things that grow very slowly. Creativity is only possible for her to obtain at night. She always thought that she was born to paint, but hasn’t painted for four years now. She lost respect for art because she thought it was a deception, then she got interested in chiromancy and that gave her back her respect for art and geometry.
She came to Germany because at the young age of 12 she was already fascinated by the German existentialist movement, she made up her mind that Germany was her real homeland and that she had to be here. When she arrived she didn’t find the deepness that she had expected and found herself somewhat disappointed. She is now searching for a way to use her skills here in Berlin.

39. Nicole Siggins

admin — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:30:38 +0000

From 13:30 to 14:13, Silbersteinstr., Berlin – Germany
Nicole is an american who lives in Berlin in a housing community. She works on a self-care planning project. Self- care planning is a list of things you create that you can turn to when you need to feel better emotionally. Those things are different things that you choose to do to make your emotional state better. She interviews people to ask them for their own list and then sends part of the list to them by mail as a reminder. She used to call suicide hotlines a lot, she explained that the workers are trained to ask the same questions always in the same order and she would call them to get a sense of structure. She is a professional hula hooper but is taking a break from the stages right now and is concentrating on training at home. She has also gone to film school and is a painter, photographer and a guitar player. She likes things related to art and movement. All of these activities that she does are part of her own self-care planning, and this is why she doesn’t just concentrate on one activity, this way she can turn to the one that makes her feel good at that particular moment.

38. Kelly Humphries

admin — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:15:44 +0000

From 13:15 to 14:45, Rheinsbergerstr. Berlin, Germany
Kelly is an English artist from Bristol who currently lives in Berlin. She works on different media but one of the most interesting would be her on-going project “the private lives of dolls”. Here she explores themes of death and sex, arranging scenes and transforming the dolls to become her characters. A very interesting part of the project is the recreation of murder scenes of famous serial killers, but Kelly focuses on the victim rather than the killer, investigating everything about them and thus letting them be remembered not only as a number but as a person. In this shoot I became her life size doll in her living room/studio.
To see her work check out her blog.

37. Eliza Bishop

admin — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:00:43 +0000

From 16:00 to 17:00, Boddinstr. Berlin, Germany
I was originally going to meet Eliza in Switzerland but I couldn’t make it, some weeks after she wrote me and told me that she was in Berlin for a poetry exhibition/reading that she was organizing. I imagined at first that she was Swiss but it turns out that she isn’t, but she doesn’t want to focus on her origins since she does not feel linked to any country in particular but considers herself a citizen of the world.

Eliza is a Iyengar yoga teacher and a poet who not only writes poetry but also creates installations with living poetry. She believes that poetry is something that you live as much as you write it. She spends her time in three homes in India, Switzerland and Berlin. She is also a Tibetan Buddhist and a photographer who believes in living here on this planet now.

36. JC. Tryps

admin — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:30:18 +0000

From 14:30 to 17:11, Warschauerstr. Berlin, Germany
Swedish writer currently starting her own business as an author.
She came to live in Berlin in January 2006 because she fell in love with the city on an earlier visit and feels at home here, this is the only place she has felt homesick for when she’s away.
She is currently writing a novel (in Swedish) and other writings such as performance texts (in German), and short stories and other writings (in English). She also writes bios and texts for musicians and other people for their websites.
The idea behind this photo was for me to come as myself and be interviewed by her (about thousand lives and other projects). This way we could both participate and in each others lives and projects and document it at the same time. To see some of her writings, visit her blog.

35. Brigitte J.

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:00:39 +0000

From 15:00 to 17:00, Landenbergstrasse, Zürich, Switzerland
Brigitte lives in a building that’s painted in pink with pale blue shutters in what seems like a calm neighborhood. She works as a nurse in an old folks home, but her real passion is acting, singing and dancing. Her wish is to find the man of her life and work on exploring their artistic tendencies together. She will be acting in a play based on the novel ‘Siddhartha’ in September in Rome.

34. Beni Sinistaj

admin — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:30:40 +0000

From 21:30 to 21:57, Gütschstrasse, Luzern, Switzerland
Fan of FCL – Fussballclublucerne, guitar player for a death metal band called Muillaff and works in floor layering.

33. Marco Carol

admin — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:15:54 +0000

From 18:15 to 18:30, Räschenhaus, Schwarzenberg, Switzerland.
He is, in his own words, a disciple of Father David (David Brandt Berg 1919 – 1994). His goal as a missionary is to help and inspire, not to persuade anyone of his idea, but to help others find their own path to spirituality. He just left his job as a hotel receptionist to join the army.

32. Dragonrope

admin — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 17:30:12 +0000

From 18:30 to 21:06, Spinnereiweg, Effretikon, Switzerland.
He is a rigger – expert in the art of Kinbaku Shibari (Japanese bondage). This was a fascinating and strangely relaxing experience. Dragonrope studied this art in Japan and now conducts bondage workshops in his atelier, he also does artistic photography with tattooed girls in bondage. I was tied up in various positions for 2 hours (as well as in full suspension). I was falling in an erotic meditation, there was no violence or pain, the only thing I knew was that I was in someone else’s hands and that I had to just let go and let myself fall into the ropes. It’s like being carried, taken care of, spoiled and wanted, all in one. The ropes are tight but when he releases me he slides the ropes across my skin, very slowly, then the circulation returns. It’s a gentle and strong feeling, charged with power and tenderness.

31. Nathalie Dreier

admin — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 22:00:02 +0000

From 23:00 to 23:40, Neugasse, Zürich, Switzerland
She is very multifaceted, plays guitar, sings, organizes concerts, works as a sales manager/marketing, speaks 5 languages, tells incredible stories, loves metal, Manara comics, & her love swing.

30. Soror Nova Audiendis

admin — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:00:28 +0000

From 15:00 to 16:00, Theodor-Kirchnerstrasse, Winterthur, Switzerland
She is a jeweler but she feels more identified to her “hobby” than to her profession. She has been interested in witchcraft since she was 14, and at that age she started her research on the subject. But she officially started practicing when she was 23. She only uses her rituals alone or for friends, to help them with their problems. She doesn’t want to do this for money. Her witch outfit was made by an old blind woman that makes clothes that are used in rituals. The cat that appears in the photo is taxidermy. When she was 14 her cat was severely ill and had to be sacrificed, she suffered from shock and stopped eating. At this point her mother consulted a psychologist and he recommended her to preserve the cat so that she would always be with her in body, and the idea of death would not be so traumatic. She has had the cat since then.
She is interested in rock, witchcraft, gothic and medieval. Even though witchcraft is sometimes associated to darkness or evil, she is a very positive person and claims to only use it for good purposes and with a lot of respect.

29. Manuel Alberati

admin — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 12:00:05 +0000

From 13:00 to 14:14, UC’NA ARCHITEKTEN, Heinrichstrasse, Zürich, Switzerland

Swiss architect and death metal singer. The photo is taken in the office of the company that he owns with his partner.

28. Hada Benedito

admin — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 10:00:43 +0000

From 11:00 to 13:00, Prenzlauer Alle, Berlin, Germany
Hada is an excellent singer and musician who works on experimental/jazz music. She’s from Valencia but lives in Berlin and plays in different bars, Cabarets and Clubs in the city.

27. Bettina Moras

admin — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 12:00:11 +0000

From 13:00 to 14:45, Soldinerstrasse, Berlin, Germany
Bettina is a German painter from East Germany (Dresden), who grew up in the communist regime and saw everything change as she became a teenager. She studied art in Rome and speaks italian, a bit of French and English. Our communication wasn’t 100% fluid because of the language difficulties, but we understood each other quite well regardless of the language that was spoken. I first met her at a party in a bar in Wedding and immediately asked her to be part of this project, she accepted and decided that she wanted to paint my portrait. The first session posing for her was long and I was continually dozing off and then trying to regain my pose. The second session (where this pic was taken) was much shorter as she only had to work on some minor details. It’s very interesting to take these pics with a timer and I enjoyed the feeling of being alone and face to face with my work and my model.

26. Eleanor Moses Waty

admin — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:30:48 +0000

From 14:30 to 14:40, Ritterstrasse, Berlin, Germany
This photo of Ana and Waty together marks the change in this project and others. Ana is now the photographer (and of course one of the characters) of Thousand Lives. The reason we are making this change is to allow more personal freedom in our current projects. Waty is working on the medium format photos of ‘Hair Berlin’, and Ana is now solely responsible of Thousand Lives. Evolution is here and changes are happening!

25. Baron Anastis van Hustler

admin — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:30:46 +0000

from 6:30 pm to 7:00 pm, Bissingzelle, Berlin, Germany

We were contacted by Baron with the strangest email so far, so he was a must on our visit list. He works as a musician apart from other things and we ended up doing another project for the new art book ‘The idealist’ (published in Berlin) focused on his life. The Teddy bear that appears in the photo is his constant companion and his sleep buddy as well.

24. Eric Tessmer

admin — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 00:50:48 +0000

from 1:50 am to 2:00 am, E. 6th St. Austin, TX, USA

This guy is an incredible musician and he currently plays in Austin TX with is band, we met him by chance in Austin, in a bar called ‘Friends’. We watched the performance and then approached him and asked him if we could do a shooting with him then and there, he accepted. So since he was actually loading his van, Ana helped him and Waty took pics of the process. This guy is a real genius and an exceptional find.

23. Eugene H. Shaw

admin — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:15:13 +0000

from 3:15 pm to 3:54 pm, E. 12th St. Austin, TX, USA

Phyllis from two shootings earlier took us around her neighborhood in Austin to meet interesting characters. At her friends house they lent Ana clothes and she walked around the neighborhood in the deathly heat to the local mechanic. At first he was rather reluctant to have his photo taken but after showing him some of the former pics he accepted and let Ana enter his garage and tamper with the vehicles.

22. Lori Linder

admin — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:10:10 +0000

from 2:10 pm to 2:50 pm, Sol Winston Ave, Austin, TX, USA

She has an incredibly strange and fascinating house. It’s decorated with numerous taxidermy pieces, everything from fish, to mammals to a large goose. There is also a coffin in the living room with a skeleton inside (we’re guessing it’s not real), and this lovely grandma who joined us for tea was actually one of the dummies in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but she didn’t render well on camera, so she was tossed away. She now sits on the head of the table of Lori’s dining room. Apart from the bizarre decoration, Lori also has an incredible collection of coats which we had the privilege of peeking through. There were far too many peculiar things in this house to mention them all, but it was definitely the most remarkable place we saw in Austin.

21. Phyllis Evetts

admin — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 11:00:28 +0000

from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm, Chestnut Ave, Austin TX, USA

She is an artist who lives in Austin with her dogs (there were also some cats), she took us all around her neighborhood to meet different people and take pics with them.

20. Mr Blu

admin — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 21:40:18 +0000

from 10:40 pm to 11:00 pm, E. 6th Austin, TX, USA

We met Mr Blu in this bar in Austin that had some metal concert going on. The bouncer tried to rip us off and wanted each of us to pay 20 dollars to get in (when everyone was going in for free). So we didn’t go in and were a bit pissed off and just decided to hang around a bit outside and see if we could get in at some point for free. So we caught Mr Blu’s attention, he was sitting inside with his brother and we started talking to him through the window (it didn’t have glass). And we told him that the bouncer was trying to rip us off, so he came outside and told us that he could walk us in. While outside we explained him our project and asked him if he wanted to participate, he did. So Ana hopped on his bike behind him, but he had another idea for the shoot and we are always willing to comply… Then he walked us in the bar, and we had no further problems at the door. Then we spent some time with them in the bar, sharing life stories.

19. Barry Rosenhamer

admin — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 11:49:12 +0000

from 12:49 pm to 12:53, Nevada, USA

Before going to the States, Ana responded to an ad that she saw on craigslist, it was a man looking for a parasol girl to walk him around in the desert. Ana and Barry began talking over internet and eventually met up in the desert where she spent a couple hours as his parasol girl, he invited us to eat with him and his camping troop and gave us lots of handmade gifts. He was very warm and welcoming, the perfect companion for a desert stroll.

18. Cody Bednarz

admin — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 14:00:03 +0000

from 3:00 pm to 3:05 pm, Harold’s, N Main St Junction, Texas, USA

We met him on the road when we stopped at a gas station and we both immediately wanted him to be part of the project, so he let Ana in the employees area and lent her a ‘shell’ uniform…

17. Consiance Saber

admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:10:57 +0000

from 12:10 pm to 12:19 pm, Black Canyon Hwy, Phoenix, AZ, USA

We took this pic at the best western that we stayed the night in. The manager posed as the client and Ana did her part and checked her in.

16. Dan Clint Hayden Jr.

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:00:15 +0000

from 10:00 pm to 10:28 pm, Burnham Ave 89169, Las Vegas, USA

We had met Dan a week earlier in Nevada but decided to make the shooting at his place in Las Vegas, so since we were all heading in the same direction we went to his place in for a game of poker. He is a graphic designer, and he’s also covered in tattoos.

15. Lachlan Wortman

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:00:59 +0000

from 12:00 pm to 12:10 pm, Chevrolet Astro “Shelly”, USA

He is an actor and a surf boarder, his movie was about to compete in the cannes festival. He has been living in his van for a year, showering at the gym and traveling around.

14. Paul Thomas (Used Universe)

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:00:42 +0000

from 17:00 pm to 18:00 pm, Schonleinstr., Berlin, Germany

American artist based in Berlin, the mask he’s wearing is one of his own creations.

13. Texas Terri

admin — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 14:13:37 +0000

from 03:13 pm to 04:33 pm, Elsenstr., Berlin, Germany

Ana had seen her in concert the year before and had wanted to meet her since then. She comes from Austin and is a punk rock singer, this shooting was really fun and it included jumping up and down on her mattress (while listening to one of her albums) with shoes on and goofing around. We also got to hear some amazing life stories.

12. Aron Covaliu

admin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:00:24 +0000

from 04:00 pm to 04:40 pm, Beermann Strasse, Berlin, Germany

Mexican photographer and traveller. He was in Berlin with his girlfriend only for a short time and they would sell photo prints at Mauer Park and couch surf, we wanted to take a photo shoot with his girlfriend as well but we couldn’t make it. Maybe we’ll catch them around in another country.

11. Brendan Gregoriy

admin — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:00:04 +0000

from 03:00 pm to 04:00 pm, Marienburger Strasse, Berlin, Germany

Irish musician / composer / DJ who currently lives in Berlin.

10. Chris Napier

admin — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 15:10:38 +0000

from 04:10 pm to 04:35 pm, Samoastrasse, Berlin, Germany

From New Zealand, he lives and works in Berlin and also studies German.

9. Leith Adjina

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:00:32 +0000

from 03:00 pm to 04:00 pm, Am Rudolfplatz, Berlin, Germany

Architect and university teacher who lives in Berlin but works in London.

8. Stephanie Hecht

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:00:14 +0000

from 04:00 pm to 04:30 am, Erich-Weinert Strasse, Berlin, Germany

Artist who creates and films short performances in public areas with different themes, Ana dressed up as one of the performance girls.

7. Floris van Onna

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:00:50 +0000

from 06:00 pm to 07:00 pm, Liebigstrasse, Berlin, Germany

DJ from Holland, his other little obsession is to collect and play with stuffed animals, they all have names and voices.

6. Ingrid van Onna

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:00:35 +0000

from 05:00 pm to 06:00 pm, Liebigstrasse, Berlin, Germany

DJ from Holland who lives with her also DJ husband in Berlin, this photo is in the studio at her home where she creates her tunes.

5. Samara St. John

admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 22:30:17 +0000

from 11:30 pm to 12:30 am, Ritterstrasse, Berlin, Germany

Well, she told Ana that she whips horribly and that she doesn’t whip hard enough at all, so next time (if there is one), Ana will strive to put more back into it.

I do see some marks though…

4. Kylian Sachem

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:30:45 +0000

from 7:30 pm to 8:45 pm, Ritterstrasse, Berlin, Germany

Belgium student who was in Berlin for a few days on holiday, it was hard to stay serious in this shooting.

3. Thomas J. Lee

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:30:32 +0000

from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm, Manteuffel str., Berlin, Germany

He comes from England and used to work as a waiter in a bar that we frequented a lot. His hobby is tattooing, but here there was a slight role change.

2. Peter Dischak

admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:00:48 +0000

from 5:00 pm to 5:45 pm, Boddinstr., Berlin, Germany

He lived with Axl and we decided to do a shooting with him the same day, he’s a German painter who drinks a lot and paints a lot. He painted an abstract painting of Ana who posed as a model.

1. Axl Van Windhook

admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:45:39 +0000

from 2:45 pm to 3:45 pm, Boddinstr., Berlin, Germany

Singer and composer from South Africa and Germany, he sings in Bars in the evenings and you can only buy a copy of his music if you meet him in person, you won’t be able to find him on internet because he doesn’t believe in it.