Danish photographer Marie Hyld takes pictures of herself with people she meets on Tinder. Young and attractive men and women around her age. The photographs appear to capture candid moments from inside intimate relationships. Varying in their atmospheric tension, the pictures range from apathetic ease, sexually charged tension, familiar comfort and playful youthfulness.
ArtDependence Magazine: What inspired you to create the Tinder series?Marie Hyld: The source of inspiration behind Lifeconstruction originates from my personal experiences with social media and how it alters the way we interact with one another in re
al life. It is my impression that the trend of “keeping up appearances” on social media makes it increasingly difficult for us be open and mindfully present in our lives. I therefore wanted to explore how convincingly real I could make these scenarios appear. Apart from that, I am also driven and fascinated by human interaction and intimacy - I aimed to explore this intimacy in my photography.
AD: How willing were your dates to go along with the process?
MH: The interesting thing about engaging participants for this project is, that I didn't really have to work for it. People were enthusiastic to be a part of this experience and it was actually a greater task to scale down the number of people that wanted to participate. The response to the project was overwhelming - I could easily have continued the work.
AD: Did you prepare in advance the photographic settings, or was it in-the-moment creation?
MH: I let my surroundings inspire me. I never scouted the locations before showing up. That was also an exciting aspect of this project. I never knew what I was walking into. I couldn’t plan anything, and so I just went with the flow. One of my greatest personal ambitions in doing this project was to practice letting go, and following whatever felt right.
AD: How did your dates react to the result?
MH: To avoid any misunderstandings I first made it very clear to my matches that it wasn’t a date. That said, people still expected some private time together after the shoot - and I guess they must’ve been disappointed. I left the shoots rather quickly after the work was done, so I never really got to see their complete reactions. I’m sure there were many reactions, but in the process I stayed honest. They all loved the pictures and the experiences - they told me they felt alive and in the moment with me, something they had hungered for.
AD: The Tinder series got and still gets a lot of attention, did it change anything for you?
MH: No, the fact that this series has received a lot of attention doesn’t change much for me. I do hope after experiencing this work that people become more wary of what is out there on the social media! That’s really all I wish for. And, that it inspires us to be present and honest in life.
All images ©
Marie Hyld
