The Swedish photographer Sannah Kvist has made a series of interesting photographs that relate perfectly to some of the things we've discussed in class about possessions and materialism. She asked several of her friends to put all their belongings together into one small space, and then she photographed each person with his or her stuff. The subject of the photo got to decide the arrangement, so you see some things displayed more prominently than others. The guy in the Black Flag T-Shirt, for instance, must have some clothing--but you can't see it, for all the records and CDs and books.
I'm surprised, actually, by how little these people have. They're all young, though, so perhaps it is truly just what will fit in a dorm room or a small apartment. Perhaps, too, there's less acquisitiveness in Swedish culture than in the U.S.
What would your stuff look like, all piled up? How would you display it? What would you put right in front?
See the entire series of 9 photos here, at Kvist's webpage. I originally found this on the wonderful blog Gathering Moss While Wandering.
After reading this and looking at the pictures, I tried to picture what my stuff would look like piled up and photographed in a similar manner. I came to the conclusion that I have more clothing than any of the people showed in the photo series, but other than that I do not have to much "stuff" that is truly mine. I just have small personal items and not really much furniture at this point, but I am sure that that will change as time goes on.
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