Individuality, oh what a sweet illusion! We all dream and forget that what we define as individualism is far less about ourselves than a relationship between ourselves and the world.
Sometimes I find it bizarre how much effort we spend on making ourselves stand out, being different from the rest. Aren’t we in the end just as extraordinary as a tree or a cloud, and isn’t everybody of us the same amount of individual? Why is it so important to be seen as individuals separate from one another in our society? Individualism fills us with passion and importance and is a vital energy that drives us, but why?
I grew up in a very rural village. Since I was little, I was told that I was different. So what happened? I started to go further and further in living my life in a way unlike the people of the village. I talked in different words, had my hair cut and dyed in a way they wouldn’t, took a profession that didn’t exist in their world.
This is what I mean with individuality being a relationship between the self and the others. I made myself the way that I am as much as the world made me, especially the people who were around me from the start of my story. I got told that I was different from them, so I gave my best to become different.
But still: Even if there might nobody be in my city with pink hair, my mix of art and fashion and cultural influences, that doesn’t mean that I am the only one. If you’d browse the world, you’d find quite a few doppelgängers, I bet. Do I care? No! The opposite: I’d love to meet them and hug all the copies of this model in pink and encourage them to continue on their attempt to reach the goal of individualism, even if it doesn’t exist.
Jacket: Uterqüe, Cardigan: House of Sunny, Trousers: Vintage,
Bag: Moschino, Shoes: Melissa, Tight: Fogal, Earrings: Tukadu
Pictures: Tanja Gschwandl
