It’s said that our facial expressions tell stories and reveal aspects of our lives, but what about our backs?
That is the basis of Brazilian creative duo Alex Mendes and Hugo Catraio’s project ‘We Never Met’, an Instagram account that chronicles pictures of strangers taken from behind.
The pair, who work at Ogilvy London, started it to combine their love of storytelling and street photography.
“People’s looks can be deceiving, showing you something very different from what they really are. So because we’re not showing people’s faces that allows us to create new identities for them. It’s amazing to observe how even a single line of a story can completely change the way you see a person and create a character around someone,” Mendes told Fast Company.
Each photograph is accompanied by an imaginary backstory; usually short, pithy statements or bits of inner dialogue that encapsulate an entire narrative about the unknown person featured.
Humorous, absurd and at times surprisingly profound, they come together to create a compelling study of human behavior.
Their faces obscured, the subjects range from passers-by and commuters, to lone figures and lovers having a quiet moment.
The duo shoot on weekends or on holidays, with Mendes stating he’s particularly fond of their images from overseas, as they show that “no matter where you are, people still behave similarly.”
Mendes and Catraio stress that they take care not to see the faces of the people they photograph, and are careful to keep their photo-taking discreet; whenever they feel they might be given away, they feign ignorance or pretend to be tourists.
“The main thing about taking these photos and writing this stuff is that we feel we can surpass stereotypes and just show the human side of it,” Mendes adds.
Check out some of their photographs below and follow the series here.
A self-proclaimed French films lover. So far only watched Amélie Poulain.
[via Fast Company, images via We Never Met]