Lena Oehmsen

My 100 friends

»My 100 friends« is a collection of 100 standard avatars from 77 different social networks. They put a face to the users even if they refuse to upload a personal photo.

Transformed into physical photographs the digital characters were passed on to 100 people. They passport photos returned crump­led, covered in tape, with holes or were perfectly kept. Presented side by side they remind of classmates collected in a school year book.

In the form of analogue objects the avatars address the possibility of personal bonds to digital images and visualize the close serration between anonymity and intimacy as well as reality and virtuality.

My 100 friends, inkjet and c-prints, 43 × 114 cm, 2013