Developed by artist and photographer Andrew Wilkinson, in collaboration with portrait photographer Benoit Cortet,

The Anthropological Wordsmith Picture Show provided everyone with the opportunity to be a part of the project.



Andrew Wilkinson asked people to write one word on a piece of paper and then be photographed with their word in front of a brick wall. Simple. Right?

 

But seen together, the group of images raise enormous questions about language, identity and even behavioral psychology. The words themselves are nearly, but not quite entirely, stripped of their normal function as signifiers. Instead they function as theatrical props that underscore the small differences between humans that are so key to identity. They become more totemic than linguistic, aligning their authors with abstract notions of connectedness, conformity, confessions, rehabilitation, joy, fun, or, in some cases, hostile defiance.