Photographer Takes Close-Up Pictures Of People When They’re Dressed And Undressed, Asks People To Guess Which Ones Which

If you saw a close-up photograph of somebody who was wearing clothes, and then saw the same close-up of the same person while they weren’t wearing clothes, do you think you’d be able to tell which is which? Is that something you literally never thought you’d have to think about before? Yeah… me too.

Well, photographer Dylan Hamm wants you to think about it. When looking at his two up-close shots of a single person you probably wouldn’t notice a massive difference between them both because they look very, very similar – if not literally exactly the same.

However, it does get more interesting once you start analyzing the features, the slight changes in their facial expressions or their eyes are caused by certain special circumstances of this particular photoshoot. Like I mentioned before… in one of these photographs the model is fully clothed, and in another… completely, and utterly naked.

For a lot of people, being naked in front of a camera is probably a HUGE step outside of their comfort zone, depending on that person’s self-confidence level. And thanks to this idea, this creative plan of Dylan Hamm was born in January 2016 when he invited strangers to a photoshoot with the goal in mind to capture just how our faces can, in fact, speak louder than words.

So, go ahead and see for yourself… can you tell on which photo the person is naked? Scroll down and find out!

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Annoyingly (for me, at least, not too sure about you) the artist Hamm didn’t actually specify which side of each photo collage features the model while they are completely undressed, leaving the overall viewing experience of this art piece as a fun kind of guessing game. Especially seeing as in one case, a dressed subject is placed on the right side of the frame, and then the dressed subject is placed on the left… leaving it up to the viewer to decide solely by reading their faces and nothing more.

“I chose to mix up the faces so that it was more complicated for the viewer to decide, and would have to look closer to make their own judgments. I also decided not to say which is which, hoping to build conversation in a gallery setting amongst all viewers,” Dylan himself told Bored Panda.

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This highly provocative initiative was actually a base for the currently ongoing project titled “Naked Faces” which derived from a quest Dylan himself had been contemplating for years –  “what level of nonverbal facial expressions do we show without being conscious of them?” 

Thus, he was on a mission of proving that our own faces reveal much more than we would like to say or are aware of through comparing images of dressed and bare-naked people. A wild idea, but I gotta say, I absolutely love it!

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Dylan Hamm is based in Vancouver and gathered a whole bunch of volunteers who were willing to be photographed naked with a contractual deal that absolutely no nudity would be captured or indeed, published. He then took the before-and-after portrait of each participant with the purpose of, as he explained;

“to demonstrate the differing facial expressions between clothed and not, to physically capture evidence of the impact that something as simple as being naked can have on subtle facial expressions.”

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Hamm’s had the idea in mind for a long, long time. Much longer before he actually got started, however, he waited until his girlfriend was actually comfortable with him seeing other people stripping down in front of him… which is er,  fair enough, I suppose? So… why naked, you may ask? WELL, here’s what Dylan had to say on the matter;

“I chose for people to be naked, because I was looking for honest vulnerability from the models. I had them remove clothes and jewelry, and asked for them not to cake themselves with makeup beforehand. I also had them standing on a box, to give them a sort of platform to set onto, both physically and mentally”

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Instead of the awkward behind the scenes of this unusual set, we get to see the honest reaction of a person through the unconscious micro expressions. “The approach and reaction to the act of getting naked varied from laughing, yelling and making jokes ­ that reaction was rarely linked to the results captured,” – Dylan said.

The results of the experiment ranged from very subtle to contrasting non-verbal reactions. From a slight smirk or barely noticeable spark in the eyes to blushing and laughing – each person had a unique emotion written on their face.

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“I could hear people talking about how they felt while I was shooting. Some people were proud and excited, some people were nervous, but when they stepped into the room, some of their attitudes changed. Confident outside, but quiet and nervous inside, and opposite as well. People talking about uncomfortably, and then being loud and happy once it was over knowing they conquered the task,” – Dylan shared his observations during a whole day photo shoot in what he had turned into a closed off area.

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While carrying out his long-awaited for photoshoot, he also noticed how the reactions to getting naked in front of Dylan differed from both men to women (which personally, for me, is not surprising whatsoever… you know what I’m saying ladies!):

“There were women that were nervous, but then proud once they were naked, while there were men who I know that are very flirty and confident men, who had some of the most vulnerable reactions to being naked in front of me. Lots of mixup to what I had thought would happen.”

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Despite the fact that this project was wholly formed out of a particular question, it didn’t actually find an answer for Dylan, which he was hoping for most. On the contrary, in fact, it inspired even more questions that Hamm explains are still yet to be explored with another ongoing project.

“It has raised questions about gender stereotypes; the subconscious, and the way we change imperceptibly to ourselves and perceptibly to others,” – Dylan photographer admitted.

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Dylan now plans to expand the project to way outside of his own circle of friends and acquaintances. Furthermore… even outside of the country.

“My plans for this project is to take it out of the country and get more diversity in this work. Something in Europe, and Asia possibly. Get out of North America, and see the wider scope of my project. In a sense I would hope that it could bring people together noticing we are all on a spectrum of vulnerability.” – said the artist.

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Honestly… I still have no freakin’ idea which side is which, but I really like the thoughts and idea behind it, as well as the surprising outcomes that came along with it. I very much look forward to Hamm’s next photo project and can’t wait to see what he comes up with next!

Do you think you can guess which side is dressed and which side is naked? Because honestly… I still have absolutely no idea. Let me know what you think in the comments and don’t forget to share this with your friends and family to give them a chance to have a guess (and maybe even learn something about themselves!) too! x

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