A series of recollections about the Why behind the photo. The fragments and questions that come with it. All at once or one after the other. The story seeds that follow before and after the photograph is made.

Woolwich market, 2018. © Ioana Bîrdu

There is a certain mystery surrounding mannequins. It's there every time I'm near them, a secret life they live and we, oblivious, just pass them by. Replicas used to display, they are in fact observers, witnesses of our world.

The eight above, I wonder what is it they've lost; that empty space above their chest. Is that the reason for their contempt?

And as I make their portrait an unsettling thought takes shape - what if they know I know? 

Episode 1: The fish stall

Episode 3: The black cat

A series of recollections about the Why behind the photo. The fragments and questions that come with it. All at once or one after the other. The story seeds that follow before and after the photograph is made.

Woolwich market, 2018.

First comes the smell. Pungent and salty. Then the man, his face hidden behind the stall and it makes me think of all the other faceless people who prepare the food we  buy.

It’s afternoon when I make the picture and I don’t know how long he’s been there. He doesn’t come there every day. Maybe it’s just a part time job. What else does he do the rest of the week? Does he have a family? Kids?

Through the viewfinder I notice the reds and the blues that repeat themselves along the frame, foreground and background, in layers. His hands, protected by plastic red gloves now look like claws, for he himself is turning into a fish. Behind him, the woman with oyster hair thinks about a dream she had last night.

Episode 2: Mannequins

Episode 3: The black cat