People I've Slept With

Steph

2012-01-05T02:02:00.001-08:00

Steph, Australian. Her home in London, UK. May 22nd, 2011., originally uploaded by Hannah is a Palindrome.

WHO: Steph, Australian.
WHEN: 22/5/11
WHERE: Her Hackney apartment, London, UK.

SLEEPING PATTERN: Slept in the spare room, very kindly giving up her own bed to me, knowing that I'd come straight from walking for 24 days.

STEPH seemed to know exactly what I needed, hospitably supplying me with a comfy place to sleep and use of a washing machine. Her personalised tour of the city included her local drinking holes and the Old Operating Theatre Museum where many amputations took place in the early 1800s, which seemed apt since she works as an anatomical pathology technician.
An old friend who has been living in London for years, we enjoyed reliving old Melbourne memories through the skewed filter of time passed and after a week of bonding we became surprised that we hadn't been closer friends at home. We discussed her recent resolution to leave the frenzied pace of London and return to chill Melbourne. But she's a strong character who has forged herself quite the niche there, so it will definitely be a brave move for her to move on. I love Steph for the duality of her tough exterior and the softy inside; though it seems like nothing can phase her, I learnt otherwise from discussing dating and relationships with her. It was sweet to see her agonise over fresh minor dramas.
Here's an extra fun fact, the chunky silver rings she rocks in her stretched ears are actually made for Prince Albert piercings!

Snorers

2011-11-19T00:25:00.000-08:00

As I've reached the las stop on El Camino De Santiago with Rebekka in Finisterre, you may have realised that those are the last of the sleeping pilgrims that will be featured on People I've Slept With. I would, however like to take a moment to remember the many characters that I did not have the chance to capture in their sleep.

In particular: the snorers. A night without at least one snorer lulling you to sleep was fairly rare. Once I slept in a room with 90 beds and the orchestra of snoring came from every direction - but was far from harmonious. I found that some snorers are actually relaxing to listen to and their breathing makes a meditative undertone. Others, not so much.
One guy made the worst noise I've ever heard; on both the inhalation and exhalation the sound was like a scream that shook me. He lead to me hiding my face in a blanket that must have had bed bugs because I woke up with bites on my face. Worth it. Apparently he usually slept in private hotel rooms instead of hostels and it was just my lucky night that he chose to terrorise a dorm room full of people. The next morning, a couple who had been in the room told me that they got up and shook his bed in hope of getting him to roll over, but he actually barked out, "F*** off!" The boyfriend found the snoring to be so bad that he went and slept outside on the lawn.
And then this guy. I didn't get a picture of him, but I found his snoring style so unique that it was worth recording. I had this jolly, round, Italian man with a bright red face in the same dorm room as me for THREE nights in a row. I don't think it helped that he drank wine every night. At about a minute in, you can hear a gurgle and snort as he actually wakes himself up with his own noise and changes position. This would happen over and over again. It was...disruptive to say the least.

Rebekka

2011-11-10T03:36:00.001-08:00

Rebekka, German. Finisterre, Spain. May 17th, 2011, originally uploaded by Hannah is a Palindrome.

WHO: Rebekka, German.
WHEN: 17/4/11
WHERE: Finisterre, Galicia, Spain.

SLEEPING PATTERN: She and Angela bookended me to share warmth on our very last night, sleeping in the sand dunes at the 'end of the world'.

REBEKKA and Angela were walking together after instantly hitting it off. A couple of days of our paths crossing, and we organically joined up. It helped that we had very similar and realistic ideas about pace and comfortable daily distances. The two Germans also awakened me to European nudity, as many of our hostels had showers-sin-dividers and seeing each other naked after meeting a day or two before was a complete non-issue.
So after bonding through several days of walking together, the three of us decided to mark the end of the pilgrimage by sleeping under the stars. Our destination, Finisterre, means the 'End of the Earth' and besides Santiago, is a perfect place to terminate by staring out over the Atlantic ocean. We were all charged to celebrate finishing the walk but Rebekka was especially buzzing with determination and impending accomplishment. Rebekka somehow fit two bottles of wine in her backpack for our planned feast and as I followed behind her excited march towards the lighthouse, I watched the almond cake that she had strapped to the outside of her pack bounce up and down. As we reached the lighthouse in almost darkness we realised that the cliffs were way too windy to for sleeping, we complained together that we now had even more walking to do, to head back the way we came to reach the beach. But giggling and swigging wine in our little nest in the dunes and then waking up to the sunrise on that beach was the perfect culmination of our time together.

Angela

2011-10-05T22:50:00.001-07:00

Angela, German. Pedrouzo, Galicia, Spain. May 16th 2011, originally uploaded by Hannah is a Palindrome.

WHO: Angela, German.
WHEN: 16/4/11
WHERE: Pedrouzo, Galicia, Spain,

SLEEPING PATTERN: Took up a nice patch of lawn beneath the clothes line in the afternoon sunshine - walking 20 kms a day justifies an afternoon nap.

I ended up sharing many deep and meaningful conversations with ANGELA as we walked the last few days together, which were very useful in taking my mind off the ticking kms. We would get going on a topic and before we knew it we were at the lunch stop. She made some poignant observations, despite our short time together, which I guess is to be expected, since she is a child psychologist. I have to say, I envy her experiences of falling in love; I've only experienced love as a gradual growth.
Angela bravely spent one night outside alone, sleeping in a field - just for the adventure of it. The next morning when the rest of us walked through thick fog to meet up with her, we could only imagine what it was like to wake up surrounded by that. She took a photo of the little spot she chose to show us how she spent the night, and said she'd had to wait for farmers and their dogs to disappear before she could settle down. Other things: long walking poles as tall as me, eating a watermelon together, her endless supply of kinder chocolate, her ID picture with blue hair.

Mijung

2011-09-01T04:56:00.001-07:00

Mijung, Korean. Viana, Spain. April 26th, 2011., originally uploaded by Hannah is a Palindrome.

WHO: Mijung from Korea.
WHEN: 26/4/11
WHERE: Albergue de Peregrinos, Viana, Navarra, Spain.

SLEEPING PATTERN: Collapsing on her bunk after hours of walking, Mijung passed out before she made it to the shower part of the daily routine.

MIJUNG appreciates simple things like juicy oranges and Spanish chorizo. She explained to me the practice in Korea of using blood types to categorise personality traits and in return I was a good english teacher to her (so she says). One of the blood types is said to be either a genius or a psychopath. Not knowing my blood type (an ignorance that amazed the Koreans) I joked that I must be that one. She assured me that I was a genius.
Her motivation for coming on the Camino was to pray to find a husband, having recently turned 30. Interestingly, Mijung is not actually baptised, but does practise prayer to a Christian God. On the Camino she attending mass for the first time. Along with her unconventional relationship with religion, she also blew my mind a little with the importance and urgency she places on marriage, as it's something I personally struggle to understand. After frankly professing her quest, she went on to develop a little crush on Francois. So, of course, Eugene and I incessantly teased them both about their impending marriage.

Mijung made me this folded note as a parting gift while we drank a cervesa together one afternoon when I couldn't walk on anymore. She wrote the letter in Korean, cheekily leaving me with the task of finding someone to translate it. When I did find another Korean pilgrim, days down the track, the words Mijung had to say to me were very sweet and heartfelt.

If you've read the PISW zines, you'll know that I collect some souvenir or memento to remind me of each person. Photographs of these are included in the zines. This is the first time I have a memento documented on video!

Francois

2011-08-21T02:54:00.001-07:00

Francois, French. Los Arcos, Spain. April 25th 2011., originally uploaded by Hannah is a Palindrome.

WHO: Francois from France.
WHEN: 25/4/11
WHERE: Los Arcos Municipal Albergue, Spain.

SLEEPING PATTERN: Slept with one eye open, knowing that I would take his photograph. All I could get was this blurry one before he heard me.

This was FRANCOIS' third time walking the Camino. He's such an advocate, not only has he done it multiple times but it is actually the subject of his PHD. His enthusiasm for the Camino rubbed off on me enough to keep me walking about 15 more days than I had planned to. After his first Camino, he fell in love with the lifestyle of a pilgrim; getting everywhere by the power of his own two feet, so he packed his bag, grabbed his dog and set off from his town in France again. While he was walking simply for the sake of walking, he realised that without the Camino he wasn't seen as a pilgrim, but as a tramp. He estimates his boots have done about 4000km. Before we met, Eugene had actually described Francois to me as a French chef with a philosophy of no smoking and no alcohol during the Camino and a handsome smile that the ladies love. I think that could all be true.
When I asked Francois what he has learned about the Camino, he replied that it is religious for each person. To paraphrase: as everyone tends to search for something along the journey, whether for benediction or for oneself, the experience is made sacred by the symbolic value we give it. Although both the ideas of religion and 'finding oneself' make me equally sceptical, I can still see his point. There was something special about the simplicity of accomplishing distances each day; of surprising yourself with what you are capable of.

Francois was a really lovely guy who gave me a lot of good advice, good company and good snacks. I missed him when we parted ways.

Sleeping Pilgrims

2011-08-11T03:55:00.001-07:00

Well, Eugene was the first in a series of sleepers I collected in April and May when I walked 470km across the North of Spain on El Camino De Santiago. On any single day, numerous people are traveling by foot or bike along each stage of this pilgrimage route. For me, it was a unique way to see Spain and practice the language, it took me away from 18 year olds in hostels who were just in Barcelona to party and as a solo traveller, it was a good way to meet a range of people. There is a sense of camaraderie as you run into familiar faces each day, thanks to our common experience and goal. It really becomes a community. We sleep together in hostels which are specially priced for pilgrims; sometimes in small rooms, but sometimes in large rooms with 90 beds, bunks pushed right up against each other.
It sounds like a great way to rack up more sleeping portraits, right? The downside - apart from my excessive blisters - was that the majority of people wake, pack up and leave before dawn in order to finish their day of walking by the afternoon. Which means that first of all, I would have to be awake at ridiculous o'clock - when in actual fact I was usually among the last to leave - and that I had no morning light to shoot in. Flash photography at 6am is understandably unwelcome. So I got the few pictures I could during afternoon naps and they will appear here soon.

Eugene

2011-07-18T06:33:00.001-07:00

Eugene, Korean, Los Arcos, Spain. April 25th, 2011., originally uploaded by Hannah is a Palindrome.

WHO: Eugene from Korea.
WHEN: 25/4/11
WHERE: Los Arcos Municipal Albergue, Spain.

SLEEPING PATTERN: His slight snoring was barely noticeable amongst the nighttime symphony of older gents on the camino.

EUGENE strolled up behind me with his professional hiking poles flashing by his sides, and began to chat to me as we trudged through increasing mud, up one of the highest peaks of the Camino. It was my first day, and within a kilometre Eugene had earnestly confided in me that he had recently lost his job and then his girlfriend, due to his career shortcomings. His uncurbed misery, which he shared so openly and so quickly with me - a stranger - made it inappropriate to tell him that he sounded like a country song. He was on a journey to forgive and accept his fate. He could very much play the joker; posing for photos by jumping way into the air, or sticking food out of his mouth & teasing our other Korean friend for her crush on a French guy. But when he was serious, he possessed a very upfront and unchecked sentimentality, which came out most sweetly at the times he had to farewell new Camino friends as he or they moved on. Often searching his belongings for a gift to bestow on people, he would become silent and then teary as he tried to express his goodbyes.

Jay

2011-03-23T03:13:00.000-07:00

This person I've slept with isn't a stranger. Instead I am always snapping photos of her sleeping. She looks so childlike I can't help it. She wasn't too impressed to wake up face to face with the camera though.

Harriet

2011-03-16T20:11:00.001-07:00

Harriet, Australian. Copacabana, Bolivia. February 17th, 2008, originally uploaded by Hannah is a Palindrome.

WHO: Harriet, from Sydney, Australia.
WHEN: 17/2/2008
WHERE: Copacabana, Bolivia.

SLEEPING PATTERN: Harriet was expecting me to take a photo of her, so she spent the night with her arm covering her face.

I first met HARRIET in Cusco, Peru and then bumped into her on the boat ride to Isla Del Sol in Lake Titicaca. I walked in on her in a friend's house where she was getting her long blonde hair made into dreadlocks. Then I would see her around in the bars, where she would play a drum borrowed the local rastas. She's a musician at home and I see lately from Facebook that she is in a choir back in Sydney. We shared this 10 Bolivianos a night ($1.50 AUD) hostel in Copacabana when we got back from the Lake. We got what we paid for, but we made the most of it with drinking games and equally cheap booze.

Nick & Lizzy Video

2011-03-12T17:49:00.000-08:00

Shot this while peering into the half wound down window of Lizzy's car, where she and Nick were asleep in the back. You can see my reflection in the glass. It's quite creepy to see in video form. It seems to highlight the invasive nature of what I'm up to, rather than the peace and innocence of the state of sleep.

Marie-Eve

2010-12-27T16:22:00.001-08:00

Marie-Eve, Canadian. El Centro Del Mundo, Quito, Ecuador. November 22nd 2007., originally uploaded by Hannah is a Palindrome.

WHO: Marie-Eve, from Quebec, Canada.
WHEN: 22/11/07
WHERE: El Centro Del Mundo Hostel, Quito, Ecuador.

SLEEPING PATTERN: No matter how careful we were, Marie-Eve and I couldn't help but shake each other on the bunk we shared, with every toss and turn.

A ballsy chick on the final leg of her trip, MARIE-EVE was the well versed traveller I wanted to be. She knew the appropriate Spanish for 'bastard' in each latin American country. She was travelling alone and living the organised, 'I'm gonna see what I want to see and I dont have to check with anyone' kinda life. She loved this exhibition she went to on her own, and wrote some of her own lyrics on the back of the entry ticket for me. Wisely, she didn't have time for drunken boys talking shit after the shared bucket of rum & coke night at the hostel. Hers was a good example to follow. It took me a while longer to get there.

Brunswick St Gallery Small Works

2010-12-03T16:24:00.000-08:00

Three of the PISW sleeping portraits will be part of the
BSG $10,000 Small Works Exhibition
Opening
6pm Fri 10 Dec 2010
at Brunswick Street Gallery
322 Brunswick St, Fitzroy.
500 artists
2000 works under 30x30x30cm
Show runs from 10 Dec 2010 to 16 Jan 2011

Ned

2010-11-24T15:47:00.001-08:00

Ned, Australian. Aire Crossing Campground, Otway National Park, Australia. November 21st 2010., originally uploaded by Hannah is a Palindrome.

WHO: Ned, Australian.
WHEN: 21/11/2010
WHERE: Aire Crossing Campground, Otway National Park, Australia.

SLEEPING PATTERN: I could feel her wriggling closer to use my back for extra warmth during the cold night in the tent.

Since this person I've slept with is already my friend, it's tricky to narrow it down to what to tell about her. Lets see...Ned loves dinosaurs (see her pillow) and has a huge collection of all things dinosaur from figurines to a large robotic child's ride on triceratops. Add this to her extensive interest in all things 80s (lucky enough to have an older brother who taught her the Guns N Roses from the Wham) and it makes her one of those people that everywhere you go you see something you want to buy for her. Triceratops mask check. Bruce Lee Bikini top, check. Ned gave me a dinosaur figurine and it lives in my frog tank now. Ned is also very rad.

New Ned fact: She knows all the words to the Savage Garden chica-cherry cola song. On the one hand I think less of her, but on the other, I appreciated the way she wasn't shy to perform it on SingStar. I like that she had no shame in revealing this side of herself.

Mo.Du.Lar Art Exhibition Fundraiser

2010-11-24T15:43:00.000-08:00

People I've Slept With Portraits also appearing at this exhibition.

Juan Carlos

2010-11-17T21:10:00.001-08:00

Juan Carlos, Columbian. El Carretero Hostel, La Paz, Bolivia. February 19th 2008., originally uploaded by Hannah is a Palindrome.

WHO: Juan Carlos, Columbian,
WHEN: 19/2/2008
WHERE: El Carretero Hostel in La Paz, Bolivia.

SLEEPING PATTERN: Like a baby after too much rum in the hostel room.

With CARLOS, I played cards on Isla Del Sol in Lake Titicaca, in a bar in Copacabana, Bolivia, and in a scungy hostel room with cheap rum. But in La Paz we skipped the cards and went straight to the cheap rum. Our La Paz hostel was full of Chilean and Argentinean hippy circus folk and artisans, practicing in the main courtyard. Thanks to Carlos' successful mingling we ended up in a wildly hand-painted den of a dorm room infiltrating their hippy world amidst swigs of foul tasting rum, scoring bonus thundering hangovers.
Carlos and I stayed in friendly contact which consisted of him showering me with chain emails in Spanish.

Issue 3 - Burners I've Slept With

2010-10-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

Issue 3 was produced just in time for the exhibition. It contains 8 new sleepers, some of whom have already appeared on this blog. All the sleepers are people who crashed at our camp, Camp Maybe, at the Burning Man festival - a huge arts festival held in the Nevada desert each year. In PISW3 are: Ashlee, Ryan, Lizzy, Nick, Kaitlin and Kamal, Yelena and Eric, with Anna gracing the front cover. I love this cover shot I captured, just as Anna was resting on one of the sculptures on the playa. All wonderful people to have met, who were very open to being a part of the project. Thanks guys! Issue 3 can be purchased at Polyester Books on Brunswick St, along with Issue 2.

PISW photography exhibited

2010-10-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

People I've Slept With recently featured in a the group art exhibition, Don't Quit Your Day Job at Hogan gallery. I printed four sleepers onto fine art paper and had them mounted and framed. The prints are quite small, 5x5" so as to be intimate and emphasis the voyeurism of peeking in on these private moments. I especially like the picture of Nick and Lizzy, which I took through a wound down car window. You can see the blur of the window in the picture, and I didn't realise it at the time but Lizzy's back is bare, which kinda draws more attention to the creepy thing I am doing by invading their privacy - hehe sorry Lizzy! Then there's the picture of my partner Jay, whose cheek is creased, making her look much more innocent than she is!
These images can be viewed at Hogan Gallery, 310 Smith St Collingwood until October 14th.

Christian

2010-10-09T16:50:00.001-07:00

Christian, Peruvian. Qoyllur Rit'i festival, Peru. May 21st 2008, originally uploaded by Hannah is a Palindrome.

WHO: Christian, Peruvian.
WHEN: 21/5/08
WHERE: Qoyllur Rit'i festival, Cusco Region, Peru.

SLEEPING PATTERN: Swaddled in a million layers to make it through a sub-temperature night in a tent.

CHRISTIAN and I walked 4 hours up a mountain in the Andes in the middle of the night along with 20 000 Peruvians from local communities for a religious festival. Through basic Spanish I learnt that he is a tattoo artist with a child to German woman he had recently flown to Berlin to visit. Once we began to set up camp we quickly felt the chill of the mountains - which was to be expected since the religious site we had trekked towards was a glacier. On waking, the sight of mamitas (little old Peruvian women) washing their braids in the stream of melted snow greeted us as we peeked out the tent door. The campground buzzed with stalls selling miniature objects of offering like this artificial wad of cash. Christian and I were amongst the few from our group to walk the last distance to the glacier, where locals were bottling the ice to use as holy water.

Fricke

2010-10-01T21:34:00.001-07:00

Fricke, Dutch. Ollantaytambo, Peru. March 3rd 2008., originally uploaded by Hannah is a Palindrome.

WHO: Fricke, from the Netherlands.
WHEN: 23/3/2008
WHERE: Ollantaytambo, Peru.

SLEEPING PATTERN: Naps with her hood pulled up over her eyes.

FRICKE is a bit of an eccentric character. Eager and friendly, but also strangely blunt. I met her in Spanish school where we were at the same level. But her willingness to speak without concern about correction helped her to advance whilst my hesitation held me back, being too careful about conjugation. As a student of history, Fricke was great company for visiting Peruvian ruins. We went to several together, even smaller ones that were not particularly draw-cards. She went to the impressive ruins in Ollantaytambo twice, that's how keen she is on ruins. I, however, was too cheap to go in even once!

Ashlee got me!

2010-09-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

The first person I've slept with to capture a photograph of me sleeping. Nice move Ashlee, very nice.

Ashlee

2010-09-25T05:15:00.001-07:00

Ashlee, Black Rock City, Nevada, September 3rd, originally uploaded by Hannah is a Palindrome.

WHO: Ashlee, from Fresno, California.
WHEN: 3/9/10
WHERE: Black Rock City, Nevada

SLEEPING PATTERN: Passed out on the couch after a night of laughing at a collaborative acoustic improvised 52 verse song!

From a neighbouring camp, ASHLEE spent a good deal of time chilling on our couches. She declared early in th e week that her solution to playa dust hair would be to wear wigs to cover the mess underneath. She stuck to it; I saw a pink bob and a long lavender number, but I didn’t see her real hair until her car was packed and she was saying her goodbyes. She even fell asleep with her wig on.
Ahlee is the first person to turn this project back on me. I woke up from a snooze in a hammock to find her leaning over me with a camera!

Ryan

2010-09-18T22:39:00.001-07:00

Ryan, Californian. Black Rock City, September 4th, originally uploaded by Hannah is a Palindrome.

WHO: Ryan, from Los Angeles, California.
WHEN: 4/9/10
WHERE: Black Rock City, Nevada

SLEEPING PATTERN: Randomly wanders into our camp looking lost, asks to crash out in one of our hammocks then all we see of him for many hours is his boot sticking out of the hammock. He resurfaces when we have eventually forgotten he is there and thanks us. Apparently he was a escaping some fornication in his own camp.

I asked RYAN to tell me something about himself and so he told me a story of death-defying heights from the night before. Climbing across a horizontal ladder which stretched high above a rave, whilst high himself on some cocktail of drugs, he had lost all physical ability to pull himself up and was sure he was about to fall to his death. I'm not sure that he learned anything from his near death experience.

Lizzy

2010-09-17T20:52:00.001-07:00

Lizzy, Black Rock City, Nevada. September 4th, originally uploaded by Hannah is a Palindrome.

WHO: Lizzy, from Los Angeles, California.
WHEN: 4/9/10
WHERE: Black Rock City, Nevada

SLEEPING PATTERN: Ski mask and a tutu, that's how you sleep in Black Rock City

LIZZY is a good natured Californian, a pilates instructor and masseuse in training. (My new best friend). I'll remember her framed in fairylights, gracefully extending her legs with poise. She flitted around in her bouncing tutu, bathed in the light projections from our Burning Man camp, reminding us all of a little bumblebee

People I've Slept With Gets Around

2010-09-16T05:25:00.000-07:00

So I've returned from USA, and have managed to deposit People I've Slept With # 2 with various zine stores and distros along the way. Most excitingly look! PISW has its own page at Stanger Danger distro. People I've Slept With and Still Warm (my other zine project) are also now available at: Quimbys, Chicago, IL. Needles and Pens, San Francisco, CA.Pilot Books and Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA.

PISW edition 2

2010-07-31T19:15:00.000-07:00

PISW edition 2 has reached a new incarnation, after a small run of only 20 copies that were available at the Sticky Zine Fair in February (If you got one of those you are extra lucky because they feature the rather special random coloured centre spread.) But now People I've Slept With 2 has reached mass production - or as mass production as I can get with a photocopier and my own two tired stapling hands. I'm getting it ready to go on a trip around the U.S. It's coming on a road trip that should allow me to stop by zine shops in Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco, and then leftovers will be disseminated through the Burning Man festival. I'll also be depositing copies of Still Warm about the place. I'm hoping to meet more people to sleep with along the way. With my delicious new DSLR, my skills will be tested to get good shots without waking the sleepers up with its noisy workings. But hopefully hippies at Burning Man won't be too bothered to be woken, as long as it is in the name of art!

Frankie and I at the zine fair stall that the lovely and talented Ayano let us join, Feb 2010.

People I've Slept With Zine

2009-09-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

Finally Edition 1 of the People I've Slept zine with is available! Pick up a copy at Sticky Institute in Degraves Subway or Polyester Books on Brunswick St, Melbourne.

People I've Slept With On Flickr

2009-05-27T06:16:00.000-07:00

People I've Slept With is essentially a photoblog of the people I shared snooze time with while I was travelling. Dormitories, tents, bunks, couches and floors; I got to know these people via the close proximity of sleeping with them, and these are their photographs and stories.
The original form of People I've Slept With is the photo set on flickr, enhanced with written anecdotes about each character. That is the best place to check it out.
Taking photographs of people sleeping is invasive, not to mention tricky to do without waking them to a camera in their faces, before having a chance to explain what the project is about. Luckily most people were simply bemused by the, "So I've already taken a photo of you sleeping, are you ok with that?" speech.
People I've Slept With is thanks to them, however brief our encounters.