Plastic Animals

“Plastic animals” is a series that tries to encapsulate that unembodied feeling of

belongingness in a foreign environment. The Series, taken in various locations in Berlin and its surroundings, depicts feelings towards being an immigrant, and the constant look for an“alternative” family, away from one’s own, biological tribe.

The first pictures in the series “Plastic Animals” were taken during a trip to Poland. It followed a line of consequential traumatic events that happened in the photographer’s life and led to a long period of recovery. The trip was meant to bring some comfort in the shape of an intimate weekend with close friends.

The series of pictures of friends wearing plastic animal masks try to realize that uncanny feeling of being hugged and protected in unfamiliar surroundings. The new family that is realized through the use of masks, comes with its own new mythology, dynamics, and fears.

The mask, with its emotionless expression, has the potential to become a danger, to expose the animal that lies underneath, and to shatter the fantasy of an ideal new family.