E VE RY O N E I H AV E E V E R S L E PT W I TH photography by R I CH ARD SOUT H & COUCH SURFERS
E VE RY O N E I H AV E E V E R S L E PT W I TH photography by R I CH ARD SOUT H & COUCH SURFERS
E VE RY O N E I H AV E E V E R S L E PT W I TH photography by R I C H ARD SOUT H & COUCH SURFERS
INTR OD U C TI ON In recent years I have become interested in the effects and the implications that online communities and in particular social media sites can have on both the identities of the users and also the community as a whole. As our lives become ever more connected through a series of hyperlinks, status updates, comments and tagged photographs it has become easier to share ideas and for social projects to happen, sometimes even on a global or revolutionary scale (Occupy, the Arab Spring, the re-launch of the Cadburys Whisper chocolate bar). Our culture online has now become a global one and what happens on this personal “node in the network� level becomes extremely important and now has much wider implications for society as a whole.
I started this project by simply looking to profile members of specific online communities, www.couchsurfing.com quickly became an obvious choice because it has the specific goal of connecting people both online and offline. After hosting and being hosted I quickly realized that the sometimes-awkward micro relationships that were formed were something that I wanted to document through photography. What follows are a series of diary exerts and a selection of the photographs taken both of and by the members of this community.
E VE RY O N E I H AV E E V E R S L E PT W I TH photography by R I CH ARD SOUT H & COUCH SURFERS
A soiled copy of the old man and the sea by Earnest Hemmingway, a book about serial killers published by a national newspaper and a couple of old hardback Viz annuals were among the first things I noticed in the bookcase near her window. Dana likes Lykke Li records, colourful scarfs and skimmed milk, we both like green tea and celery. This book is an illustration of some of the micro relationships that were formed in 2011 via the social networking site couchsurfing. I met Dana at Belsize Park tube station near Camden. Sometimes you meet in public; sometimes you are given directions to homes and meet at front doors, there’s no “typical couch surfer”. yellow raincoats, writing down directions and walking through leaves in Hyde park. I try to notice things we have in common, we buy the same honey or we both shop at Tesco. When there are pauses you can try to find things in common its usually not awkward but its good to be prepared. I tend to find myself staring at objects, or looking into open drawers and even sometimes picking things up off surfaces, these actions are usually followed by questions or explanations.
its important to help with the washing up and attempting to leave no trace. I’m interested in photographing those pauses between conversations and the moment that we let the formalities slip. It can be as simple as drying hair, reading a magazine or drinking vodka from paper coffee cups. I found the only way I could accurately document this unusual arrangement was by sitting down and not trying to concentrate. The title for this book has been taken from Tracey Emin’s artwork “Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995” The title is ambiguous but like Emin’s works this is not a document of sexual encounters, but rather an attempt to document the odd social interactions and human relations that take place in the grey area between an online community and the real. RICHARD SOUTH
NO TES, 2011
Belsize Park, London
LAT VI A N D A N A T EA , 2011
Belsize Park, London
LATVI A N D A N A HA I R D RY ER , 2011
Belsize Park, London
L AT VI A N D A N A HA I R D RY ER , 2011
Belsize Park, London
LATVI A N D A N A D I N N ER , 2011
Belsize Park, London
LAT VI A N D A N A D I N N ER , 2011
Belsize Park, London
LATVI A ND A N A M Y B ED , 2011
Belsize Park, London
LATVI A N D A N A I N B ED , 2011
Belsize Park, London
RABAN 92 ST R EET , 2011
Mount Pleasant, Swansea
RABAN 92 ST R EET , 2011
Mount Pleasant, Swansea
RABAN 92 ST R EET , 2011
Mount Pleasant, Swansea
CA S EY LI VE, 2011
Student Village, Swansea
CA SEYLI VE WI N D O W, 2011
Student Village, Swansea
CA S EY LI VE M A GA Z I N E, 2011
Student Village, Swansea
CA SEYLI VE D I N N ER , 2011
Student Village, Swansea
CA S EY LI VE D I N N ER , 2011
Student Village, Swansea
ESTELLE.M O R R I S S T R EET , 2011
Portobello Rd, London
EST ELLE.M O R R I S PA R K, 2011
Portobello Rd, London
ESTELLE.M O R R I S A PPLES EED CA S T , 2011
Portobello Rd, London
EST ELLE.M O R R I S LUGGA GE, 2011
Portobello Rd, London
E L IZ ABET H CA R LT O N PHO N E, 2011
Mount Pleasant, Swansea
EL IZ ABET H CA R LT O N B A R E F EET , 2011
Mount Pleasant, Swansea
EL IZ ABET H CA R LT O N I N B ED , 2011
Mount Pleasant, Swansea
EVERY O N E I HAV E E V E R S L E PT W I TH photography by R I CH A RD SOUT H & COUCH SURFERS
P HO TO GR A PHY
© Richard South TEXT
© Richard South The right of Richard South to be identified as the auther of this work has been asserted by him in the accordance with the copyright, designs and patents act 1998. CO NTACT I N F O R M AT I O N
Richard South r.south@hotmail.com 07540938362