Willem Popelier

Showroom Girls is a project in which Popelier encountered a recurring duo of girls who repeatedly photographed themselves with phones for sale in various media stores. To partially protect their privacy, he obscured their faces, while the repetition of their presence remained visible.

The work shows how images you create and share yourself can start to take on a life of their own once they appear in a different context. This raises questions about identity and privacy: to what extent do you still have control over your own image once you make it publicly available? What I particularly appreciate in this work is Willem Popelier’s playful approach and the combination of humour and simplicity in its presentation. For example, a printer was connected to one of the girls’ public Twitter accounts.

Showroom Girls makes me reflect on how much personal information we unconsciously leave behind in everyday life, and how once something is shared online, it is almost impossible for it to ever truly disappear.