Every day we cross paths with so many people, often in a rush. It’s rare that we slow down and stop to meet someone new, or give ourselves permission to be curious or surprised. My 100 day photography project #100xPEOPLExHAPPINESS was an attempt to challenge that.
Over 100 days from April to mid-July 2017, wherever I was, whether in Berlin or travelling around Africa, I asked one person each day the same question: “What makes you happy?”.
What makes you happy? is such a simple question - and yet such an important one. It can trigger a short answer or a long one, a brief encounter or a much deeper conversation. I found it’s a question that can build connections and reveal incredible personal stories.
My 100-day project was inspired by the global art project #the100dayproject on Instagram. By joining thousands of creatives from around the world, I took up the challenge of experimenting every day, for 100 days and making time to listen, discover and create.
At the heart of my project was not the end result, but the process: the daily repetition of taking portrait photographs, and above all, meeting new people, every single day.
The result is a collection of black and white portraits of people from all walks of life with their very personal stories and perspectives on happiness which I documented with my mobile phone. So what makes you happy?