Nights with Strangers
July 18, 2012 8:17 AM   Subscribe

Bieke Depoorter drifts into a small town in a strange country where she strikes up a conversation with a complete stranger – on the street, in a train, at a bus depot – and convinces them to allow her to spend the night with their family. Before the sun rises, she will shoot those family members over and over, before moving on to the next small town, the next bemused stranger, the next unsuspecting family. The results are oddly touching works of voyeurism and intimacy. [Some nudity] posted by taz (22 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Misleading intro is not so clever, maybe? -- taz



 
I thought you were talking about a criminal, not a photographer. Phew.
posted by Malor at 8:18 AM on July 18, 2012 [15 favorites]


I thought this was about a serial killer until I remembered that there exists a thing called a camera.
posted by TwelveTwo at 8:18 AM on July 18, 2012


Before the sun rises, she will shoot those family members over and over,

Holy ****, we don't all read this and assume "photograph"! -_- I thought I was going to be traumatized
posted by The Biggest Dreamer at 8:19 AM on July 18, 2012 [4 favorites]


Oops guess I wasn't alone

I'll go look at the photos now I guess
posted by The Biggest Dreamer at 8:19 AM on July 18, 2012


Wow, no trigger shutter warning?
posted by wenestvedt at 8:20 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


Holy ****, we don't all read this and assume "photograph"!

From the looks of it, I think NONE of us assumed "photograph." Maybe the mods could amend the word "shoot" in the post?....
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:20 AM on July 18, 2012


Subby should be shot for posting such a misleading headline.

A Nikon D3100 would be a good choice.
posted by Aquaman at 8:22 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


I can hardly believe it was an accidental choice of words. (And it was posted by a mod, so I guess she can change it if it wasn't intentional.)
posted by Horace Rumpole at 8:24 AM on July 18, 2012



Holy ****, we don't all read this and assume "photograph"!

From the looks of it, I think NONE of us assumed "photograph." Maybe the mods could amend the word "shoot" in the post?....


I sort of thought that was the idea of using the word "shoot," to shock a little and then give a little "whew!" at the clever wordplay.
posted by xingcat at 8:25 AM on July 18, 2012


Wow, these Showtime series just keep getting stranger and stranger.
posted by La Cieca at 8:25 AM on July 18, 2012


All that being said (and yeah I was misled as well, and there have been long discussions about misleading framing), my favorite one was with the kid cheerfully flipping the camera off.


At the heart they are snapshots, what makes them interesting (to me) is that I don't see a lot of informal Russian photography.
posted by edgeways at 8:27 AM on July 18, 2012


After also initially assuming horrible violence, I think I can accurately label this post "sensationalist". I don't even want to read the post anymore, as I thought the joke was fairly cruel. Kinda ticked me off, actually, as I don't like being lead on like -that-.

And I'm usually pretty easy going about jokes involving just about everything from kittens to dead babies.
posted by DisreputableDog at 8:28 AM on July 18, 2012


Fantastic! Thanks very much for the post.
posted by dobbs at 8:29 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


After also initially assuming horrible violence, I think I can accurately label this post "sensationalist". I don't even want to read the post anymore, as I thought the joke was fairly cruel. Kinda ticked me off, actually, as I don't like being lead on like -that-.

Yeah, me too.
posted by endless_forms at 8:30 AM on July 18, 2012


You people are over-reacting. The final line of the post makes it absolutely clear that it's not about murder.
posted by dobbs at 8:30 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


Oh, Jiminy Christmas, nobody got to the very next sentence about "works of voyeurism and intimacy" before having their freakout?

Anyways, speaking of the voyeurism bit ... These photos are definitely creepy. I don't know if I have the aesthetic vocabulary to explain this, but it felt like they shouldn't have been taken, like the messiness and haphazardness was due to the photo being taken five frames before it should have been, you know? Like things hadn't quite moved into place to make the moment.

But perhaps that's just my sqickedness influencing me...I wondered whether these people knew what they were in for when they agreed to this.
posted by Diablevert at 8:32 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


Yeah, y'all are wigging out for no good reason. The wording is a taz awkward, but it's not indecipherable.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:33 AM on July 18, 2012 [2 favorites]


I think if I were taz, I would quietly substitute "photograph" for "shoot" and then pretend that nothing happened.
posted by Curious Artificer at 8:34 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


Brandon Blatcher: The wording is a taz awkward, but it's not indecipherable.

The words "photography" and "photographer" are also right there in the taz.
posted by gman at 8:37 AM on July 18, 2012


It seems that taz was obviously trying to be playful with the suggestion of something sinister. But - in the spirit of the above comments - what I want to know is why she deports bikes?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:41 AM on July 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


As for the shoots, they seem so personal. It's always interesting to see this type of photography that feels like it's crossing personal boundaries. But uncomfortably, some of these strike me as povertyporn. Ehhhh are there also voyeuristic photos covering subjects that we're not supposed to feel sorry for??

That came out more rambly than I hoped, bleh.
posted by The Biggest Dreamer at 8:43 AM on July 18, 2012


Sorry but I'm weird enough, and have seen enough weird Metafilter posts, to think "voyeurism and intimacy" to also describe horrible murders. I thought it could've been referring to a woman who's insane but is intending tenderness through her terrible and bloody work.

I've also recently been watching the 6th season of Dexter, which probably helped that.

So, yeah, nowhere in the initial introductory paragraph did it allude to NOT being about murder.
posted by DisreputableDog at 8:44 AM on July 18, 2012


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