Selections from "Ordinary People (Like Me)"

Ordinary People (Like Me) is a social experiment using photographic portraiture. Inspired by a Yoko Ono instruction to photograph “ordinary people” I approached the prompt by interrogating its premise. Who do we consider ordinary? How is ordinary defined? The instruction summoned an uncomfortable awareness that the act of identifying and photographing “ordinary” people would presuppose scrutiny, judgment, categorization, and privilege. Instead of making those judgements I worked collaboratively. I began by photographing a handful of people I’ve met walking my dog, and I asked if they would recruit other “ordinary” people for the project. This process spawned multiple distinct lineages of portrait subjects. I followed the referrals wherever they led me, excited to meet the next generation of “ordinary” Calgarians. I photographed people at their homes, environments that speak to the values and experiences that shape our lives. I worked with my subjects to identify places to shoot that best represent who they are and how they live, whom and what they love. The paths the referrals traced repeatedly led back to people like me. My method failed to yield the diverse representation of “ordinary” people I had hoped would materialize. Instead of branching out, the images map existing social networks and the boundaries of everyday lived communities. The work succeeds by posing questions about self-concepts and identities, and labels that simultaneously unite us and keep us apart.