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Photographer Gets Very Intimate With Strangers She Just Met On Tinder, And The Results Are Controversial
24-year-old photographer Marie Hyld was tired of seeing the “same polished posts, pictures, and updates” in online websites and apps. Trying to find “something real,” she decided to create it herself. Her photography project, Lifeconstruction, features Marie pretending to have serious relationships with random strangers she met moments before the photos were taken.
Marie wrote about her intentions in her Tinder bio. She described how she wanted to meet with her matches and photograph them as if they were a couple. The artist also made it clear that the photos would eventually be made public, so if people swiped right, they were virtually saying they’d like to participate in her project. She even met her boyfriend of four years on Tinder. “We both still have it and swipe occasionally,” Hyld told INSIDER. “It’s a hilarious world.”
“I think we lack that face-to-face time today,” she told Broadly Denmark. “We’re never really present in our interactions. As I see it, it’s getting worse and social media is largely to blame for it. It’s ironic that my project basically couldn’t exist without Tinder.” Hyld intentionally didn’t plan any of her “dates” in advance. “I had days where I felt that I simply didn’t have the energy and motivation to connect with my deeper, heartfelt self, and days where I felt like digging all the way into my own and the stranger’s core.”
“Once or twice I was quite shaken due to a participant crossing my limits. But I was kind of prepared for that to happen, and I can now say that it has helped me get to know myself better.” Marie claimed her boyfriend was nothing but supportive, giving her the freedom to create the way she saw fit.
Marie says we all “should always dare to reach out” to create intimacy and “depth” with others. “It’s important to search, find, and fill yourself with something real.”
More info: squarespace.com | Facebook
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Image credits: Marie Hyld
Image credits: Marie Hyld
Image credits: Marie Hyld
Image credits: Marie Hyld
Image credits: Marie Hyld
Image credits: Marie Hyld
Image credits: Marie Hyld
Image credits: Marie Hyld
Image credits: Marie Hyld
Image credits: Marie Hyld
Image credits: Marie Hyld
Image credits: Marie Hyld
What do you think ?
Pamela 6 years ago
I mean, the real accomplishment is that you weren't matched with a serial killer. This gives me anxiety.
Pamela 6 years ago
.. thanks for the downvotes lol- Honestly though, meeting complete strangers and getting naked for a photo shoot does not seem safe. I guess I'm just old fashioned.
Load More Replies...
Ladies and Gentlemen 6 years ago
I looked at the post, scrolled down a bit, saw few half naked pics, quickly scrolled up(as I am in office, didn't wanted awkward glances and stares), read what she is doing. Rubbed my eyes, massaged my temples, got up from my desk, made myself a strong coffee and contemplated over strong smell of liquid gold - what the hell is this world coming to eh?
Rhân 6 years ago
„Trying to find something real“? What is real about knowing each other 5min and being already naked? I don‘t say that this never happens, but huh? You know what real is? Life is boring. Thats why we get creative, because no one wants to be boring and bored. But I don‘t get your point. Maybe you just wanted to experience something new in your life and feel like „using art as an excuse“ - nothing wrong with that, but maybe you were more bored about yourself than about some pictures you saw in the internet
Kenny Kulbiski 6 years ago
I'm all in favor of pictures of nude and semi nude attractive woman, but this has got to be the most convoluted, pretentious excuse to get naked I've ever come across.
stellermatt 6 years ago
"no.. that's right, yeah it's for... erm... art! yeah, art! so, you'll need to have a shower with me... that's right"
Just Amiable 6 years ago
'I should meet random dudes on an app and get naked with them within 30 minutes of meeting and post our pictures online'.........SAID NO F*****G SOBER PERSON.. EVER!
Ethel Othello 6 years ago
I think.. and this is just my opinion that the point is not to believe everything we see on social media. Many people believe something is missing in their lives because they do not have a partner or because they do not share similar moments with their partner. Whereas we don't know the story behind these posts or the status of their relationship.
Rafaella Bueno 6 years ago
This is what I took from it too, but I admit I couldn't quite understand what the artist herself wanted with it... her explanations, at least the ones quoted in the article, didn't make much sense to me.
Load More Replies...
Here to Troll 6 years ago
I thought this was going to be a gallery of pics taken shortly after people on Tinder met (with real reactions and emotions, not this staged b******t) as is heavily implied by the title, which would've been (possibly) mildly amusing. Instead we're treated to garbage.
Shana 6 years ago
"we all should always dare to reach out to create intimacy and depth with others"... Ehh I'm all for getting to know people and to connect with them but I don't really feel the need to get naked and have a shower with them 10 minutes after meeting... Or getting into intimate positions like lovers do... -Looking at the pictures without her "view" on this, I'd just see this more as a "every picture can be faked"kinda thing?
Little Menace 6 years ago
What? It's just self indulgence under the guise of 'art'. My best friend and I did something similar when we were 14, we wanted to be able to talk to boys, so we pretended we had a school assignment and had to ask random people questions about something [can't remember what, maybe politics or similar]. It was completely made up but we even brought the gear [notebooks, pens etc, this was the early 80s]. We never would have been able to just chat up boys otherwise and we had quite a success!
Melia Fortunati 6 years ago
I sincerely hope you were not alone for these shoots. You put yourself in an incredibly dangerous position repeatedly. What happened when they crossed your comfort line?
Rob Jones 6 years ago
She'll be the next herpes activist like Ella Dawson or Rafaella Gunz, once she gets infected. If she doesn't have an STD yet, the smart money says she will soon. It's a shame, she'll be damaged permanently and tainted by the time she finds a guy she really wants a future with, and unless he's doesn't care about his sexual health he'll ghost her quick
Breezy 6 years ago
I actually think some of these pictures are really awesome. Not exactly sure what the entire point was but oh well, still fun.
Alia Ris 6 years ago
and what's the difference between this Tinder-sourced art and just getting random models for a photo shoot? :|
Parmeisan 6 years ago
I see a lot of negative comments on here, but I for one think it is interesting. And art doesn't have to appeal to everyone to still be art. My interpretation is that this is a commentary on how dating has been changed by first the internet, then social media, and finally apps like Tinder. (Because online dating did not alone change the landscape.) But not just dating - interaction. The social construction. It also makes a point about how we see, and how the camera captures, vs what is real. This isn't about sex or even about being naked. It's about the differences between a real relationship where you get to the point of intimacy through mutual trust and respect, and what you can fake if you're both willing. Which means it can also be a commentary on the lies we tell our friends and family when your relationship is falling apart, but you keep living as though everything is normal, sending out perfect-looking Christmas cards and posting about your day to day. (con't)
Parmeisan 6 years ago
It could also be about the difference between sex and love, and how neither is necessary for the other. Or the different ways that intimacy can manifest. The mundane vs the extraordinary. Oh, so many things. Sometimes art is pretty; sometimes it's gritty. If it makes you think, it's art. And this made me think.
Load More Replies...
Stacy Smith 6 years ago
It's similar to the advertising we see in magazines, online, and on tv. I see it as a social experiment on intimacy and well, if they're a serial killer as someone mentioned above, I don't think it would matter whether clothes were on or not. It viscerally triggered a lot of people morally which I find interesting.
Felicia Dale 6 years ago
I loved these photos. I couldn't do a project like that myself but I still think it's pretty neat...
JustAYugiohFan 6 years ago
A bit odd...but nice photography! A little showy, but it’s ok? I really don’t know what to say on this post. •_•
Vanessa Willey 6 years ago
I think this was just to show how easy it is to create a lie and to try and show how much of what we see through social media may or may not be as it seems. Also connecting through the internet rather than face to face social encounter. As she said it made the job a lot easier being able to explain and letting others do their swipes as they see fit, rather than the awkwardness of asking a stranger in the street. However not a fan of her idea
Almita Neon 6 years ago
So she wanted something "real", yet every single shot looks like it took the time she met the person to stage the photograph?
Kevin Donegan 6 years ago
I'm guessing she had a photography "crew" during these shoots ... otherwise I don't think every encounter would have ended well.
Andrew Joseph 6 years ago
nice to see how people can get involved with others............ interesting !!!
Mike O'Connor 6 years ago
Lol. This is kinda awesome really. I see why people don’t like it or feel it’s not “safe.” At the same time, it shows how quickly humans become intimate and satisfied being around each other in a world consumed in the “self” and detached from common physical presence and comforts. Just my thoughts.
Linda Byrum 6 years ago
Methinks that Maria Hyde some personal work to do. . .not sure why getting this intimate with strangers is really a "new" photo worthy opportunity. . . . . I wonder if she herself has an issue with being present with those she is connected with. And if she has an issue with social media - it seems to me she is supporting the fallacy of her own argument. As a photographer I know how easy it is to give in artful BS.
frederic eeckman 6 years ago
I don't see it as "controversial"... They would be models posing for a picture, they wouldn't know each other either... Ok, we can argue that bringing a stranger at home can be dangerous,...
Firstname Lastname 6 years ago
“We both still have it and swipe occasionally,” Hyld told INSIDER. “It’s a hilarious world.” I mean, the internet makes enough clickbait on funny dating profiles that you don't have to swipe and make out with strangers four years into a relationship, but I guess monogamy is a looser concept than it used to be.
Susanna Vesna 6 years ago
Took her quite a while to get close with the BDSM chick! 32 whole minutes!! Wow
Susanna Vesna 6 years ago
Proof that whatever we see online is staged and can never be completely trusted.
Sally Khaidem 6 years ago
Imagine a guy putting up photos in the same scenario. People wont be happy I guess.
lunanoir69 6 years ago
I have had very intimate emotional moments with strangers because I talk to people around me. I've had strangers tell me incredibly painful stories, I've held strangers who were crying, listened to stories from Veterans, etc. and I am the richer for it. I worked in human services for 30 years, worked suicide crisis lines, so people are kind of drawn to me. I don't think that I could be comfortable with physical intimacy (beyond a hug or a kiss on the cheek) with a stranger, however. I would rather hear people's stories.
Aunt Messy 6 years ago
And that's why Europeans find Americans so annoying. They overshare endlessly when no one wants to hear it.
Load More Replies... Just Amiable 6 years ago
So this person kinda proved all those people Posting those perfect pics are full of c**p and basically it can be done naked, with a willing randon stranger from an app... That's like a contribution to science.. Slutty science, but science none the less!
Michał Jastrzębski 6 years ago
isnt tinder's purpose to get intimate with people you have just met?
Diane Barth 6 years ago
Sometimes, a silly project masquerading as art... is not art, but just a silly project.
Debbie Andersson 6 years ago
I wonder if they managed to squirm themselves into that BDSM clothing in only 32 minutes.
DeusCurrentMachina O. 6 years ago
These are strangers? They're pretty slim and above average on looks. I call b******t on this.
A Little Light Arson 6 years ago
Loved these pictures! Must take a lot of courage to take these pics.
Stacy Smith 6 years ago
The more I think about it the more captivating the concept becomes. The more freeing. I'm glad her pictures worked out. It would be interesting to hear about the lead-up and aftermath too. I'm kind of intrigued by that kind of bold experience in bonding, because what is life if you can't experience as many human interactions (positive) as possible. Right now I wouldn't be daring enough to do this, and it'd have to be compartmentalized with all the other stuff going on in life.
Doug Assis 6 years ago
I'm not against new social behaviors, but this is just old fashion sex addiction or other form of mental disease. Look for help.
Echo Amburn 6 years ago
I love Everything about this! I love the one where he is sitting on the toilet bushing his teeth and she is in the mirror doing the same. reminds me of some of the care free mornings with my husband. the other one that really speaks to me is the two girls kissing while one is hanging upside down. again a care free feel with a kinship of soles. I find myself and those I love in every one of these photos and hope to see more!
Pamela 6 years ago
I mean, the real accomplishment is that you weren't matched with a serial killer. This gives me anxiety.
Pamela 6 years ago
.. thanks for the downvotes lol- Honestly though, meeting complete strangers and getting naked for a photo shoot does not seem safe. I guess I'm just old fashioned.
Load More Replies... Ladies and Gentlemen 6 years ago
I looked at the post, scrolled down a bit, saw few half naked pics, quickly scrolled up(as I am in office, didn't wanted awkward glances and stares), read what she is doing. Rubbed my eyes, massaged my temples, got up from my desk, made myself a strong coffee and contemplated over strong smell of liquid gold - what the hell is this world coming to eh?
Rhân 6 years ago
„Trying to find something real“? What is real about knowing each other 5min and being already naked? I don‘t say that this never happens, but huh? You know what real is? Life is boring. Thats why we get creative, because no one wants to be boring and bored. But I don‘t get your point. Maybe you just wanted to experience something new in your life and feel like „using art as an excuse“ - nothing wrong with that, but maybe you were more bored about yourself than about some pictures you saw in the internet
Kenny Kulbiski 6 years ago
I'm all in favor of pictures of nude and semi nude attractive woman, but this has got to be the most convoluted, pretentious excuse to get naked I've ever come across.
stellermatt 6 years ago
"no.. that's right, yeah it's for... erm... art! yeah, art! so, you'll need to have a shower with me... that's right"
Just Amiable 6 years ago
'I should meet random dudes on an app and get naked with them within 30 minutes of meeting and post our pictures online'.........SAID NO F*****G SOBER PERSON.. EVER!
Ethel Othello 6 years ago
I think.. and this is just my opinion that the point is not to believe everything we see on social media. Many people believe something is missing in their lives because they do not have a partner or because they do not share similar moments with their partner. Whereas we don't know the story behind these posts or the status of their relationship.
Rafaella Bueno 6 years ago
This is what I took from it too, but I admit I couldn't quite understand what the artist herself wanted with it... her explanations, at least the ones quoted in the article, didn't make much sense to me.
Load More Replies... Here to Troll 6 years ago
I thought this was going to be a gallery of pics taken shortly after people on Tinder met (with real reactions and emotions, not this staged b******t) as is heavily implied by the title, which would've been (possibly) mildly amusing. Instead we're treated to garbage.
Shana 6 years ago
"we all should always dare to reach out to create intimacy and depth with others"... Ehh I'm all for getting to know people and to connect with them but I don't really feel the need to get naked and have a shower with them 10 minutes after meeting... Or getting into intimate positions like lovers do... -Looking at the pictures without her "view" on this, I'd just see this more as a "every picture can be faked"kinda thing?
Little Menace 6 years ago
What? It's just self indulgence under the guise of 'art'. My best friend and I did something similar when we were 14, we wanted to be able to talk to boys, so we pretended we had a school assignment and had to ask random people questions about something [can't remember what, maybe politics or similar]. It was completely made up but we even brought the gear [notebooks, pens etc, this was the early 80s]. We never would have been able to just chat up boys otherwise and we had quite a success!
Melia Fortunati 6 years ago
I sincerely hope you were not alone for these shoots. You put yourself in an incredibly dangerous position repeatedly. What happened when they crossed your comfort line?
Rob Jones 6 years ago
She'll be the next herpes activist like Ella Dawson or Rafaella Gunz, once she gets infected. If she doesn't have an STD yet, the smart money says she will soon. It's a shame, she'll be damaged permanently and tainted by the time she finds a guy she really wants a future with, and unless he's doesn't care about his sexual health he'll ghost her quick
Breezy 6 years ago
I actually think some of these pictures are really awesome. Not exactly sure what the entire point was but oh well, still fun.
Alia Ris 6 years ago
and what's the difference between this Tinder-sourced art and just getting random models for a photo shoot? :|
Parmeisan 6 years ago
I see a lot of negative comments on here, but I for one think it is interesting. And art doesn't have to appeal to everyone to still be art. My interpretation is that this is a commentary on how dating has been changed by first the internet, then social media, and finally apps like Tinder. (Because online dating did not alone change the landscape.) But not just dating - interaction. The social construction. It also makes a point about how we see, and how the camera captures, vs what is real. This isn't about sex or even about being naked. It's about the differences between a real relationship where you get to the point of intimacy through mutual trust and respect, and what you can fake if you're both willing. Which means it can also be a commentary on the lies we tell our friends and family when your relationship is falling apart, but you keep living as though everything is normal, sending out perfect-looking Christmas cards and posting about your day to day. (con't)
Parmeisan 6 years ago
It could also be about the difference between sex and love, and how neither is necessary for the other. Or the different ways that intimacy can manifest. The mundane vs the extraordinary. Oh, so many things. Sometimes art is pretty; sometimes it's gritty. If it makes you think, it's art. And this made me think.
Load More Replies... Stacy Smith 6 years ago
It's similar to the advertising we see in magazines, online, and on tv. I see it as a social experiment on intimacy and well, if they're a serial killer as someone mentioned above, I don't think it would matter whether clothes were on or not. It viscerally triggered a lot of people morally which I find interesting.
Felicia Dale 6 years ago
I loved these photos. I couldn't do a project like that myself but I still think it's pretty neat...
JustAYugiohFan 6 years ago
A bit odd...but nice photography! A little showy, but it’s ok? I really don’t know what to say on this post. •_•
Vanessa Willey 6 years ago
I think this was just to show how easy it is to create a lie and to try and show how much of what we see through social media may or may not be as it seems. Also connecting through the internet rather than face to face social encounter. As she said it made the job a lot easier being able to explain and letting others do their swipes as they see fit, rather than the awkwardness of asking a stranger in the street. However not a fan of her idea
Almita Neon 6 years ago
So she wanted something "real", yet every single shot looks like it took the time she met the person to stage the photograph?
Kevin Donegan 6 years ago
I'm guessing she had a photography "crew" during these shoots ... otherwise I don't think every encounter would have ended well.
Andrew Joseph 6 years ago
nice to see how people can get involved with others............ interesting !!!
Mike O'Connor 6 years ago
Lol. This is kinda awesome really. I see why people don’t like it or feel it’s not “safe.” At the same time, it shows how quickly humans become intimate and satisfied being around each other in a world consumed in the “self” and detached from common physical presence and comforts. Just my thoughts.
Linda Byrum 6 years ago
Methinks that Maria Hyde some personal work to do. . .not sure why getting this intimate with strangers is really a "new" photo worthy opportunity. . . . . I wonder if she herself has an issue with being present with those she is connected with. And if she has an issue with social media - it seems to me she is supporting the fallacy of her own argument. As a photographer I know how easy it is to give in artful BS.
frederic eeckman 6 years ago
I don't see it as "controversial"... They would be models posing for a picture, they wouldn't know each other either... Ok, we can argue that bringing a stranger at home can be dangerous,...
Firstname Lastname 6 years ago
“We both still have it and swipe occasionally,” Hyld told INSIDER. “It’s a hilarious world.” I mean, the internet makes enough clickbait on funny dating profiles that you don't have to swipe and make out with strangers four years into a relationship, but I guess monogamy is a looser concept than it used to be.
Susanna Vesna 6 years ago
Took her quite a while to get close with the BDSM chick! 32 whole minutes!! Wow
Susanna Vesna 6 years ago
Proof that whatever we see online is staged and can never be completely trusted.
Sally Khaidem 6 years ago
Imagine a guy putting up photos in the same scenario. People wont be happy I guess.
lunanoir69 6 years ago
I have had very intimate emotional moments with strangers because I talk to people around me. I've had strangers tell me incredibly painful stories, I've held strangers who were crying, listened to stories from Veterans, etc. and I am the richer for it. I worked in human services for 30 years, worked suicide crisis lines, so people are kind of drawn to me. I don't think that I could be comfortable with physical intimacy (beyond a hug or a kiss on the cheek) with a stranger, however. I would rather hear people's stories.
Aunt Messy 6 years ago
And that's why Europeans find Americans so annoying. They overshare endlessly when no one wants to hear it.
Load More Replies... Just Amiable 6 years ago
So this person kinda proved all those people Posting those perfect pics are full of c**p and basically it can be done naked, with a willing randon stranger from an app... That's like a contribution to science.. Slutty science, but science none the less!
Michał Jastrzębski 6 years ago
isnt tinder's purpose to get intimate with people you have just met?
Diane Barth 6 years ago
Sometimes, a silly project masquerading as art... is not art, but just a silly project.
Debbie Andersson 6 years ago
I wonder if they managed to squirm themselves into that BDSM clothing in only 32 minutes.
DeusCurrentMachina O. 6 years ago
These are strangers? They're pretty slim and above average on looks. I call b******t on this.
A Little Light Arson 6 years ago
Loved these pictures! Must take a lot of courage to take these pics.
Stacy Smith 6 years ago
The more I think about it the more captivating the concept becomes. The more freeing. I'm glad her pictures worked out. It would be interesting to hear about the lead-up and aftermath too. I'm kind of intrigued by that kind of bold experience in bonding, because what is life if you can't experience as many human interactions (positive) as possible. Right now I wouldn't be daring enough to do this, and it'd have to be compartmentalized with all the other stuff going on in life.
Doug Assis 6 years ago
I'm not against new social behaviors, but this is just old fashion sex addiction or other form of mental disease. Look for help.
Echo Amburn 6 years ago
I love Everything about this! I love the one where he is sitting on the toilet bushing his teeth and she is in the mirror doing the same. reminds me of some of the care free mornings with my husband. the other one that really speaks to me is the two girls kissing while one is hanging upside down. again a care free feel with a kinship of soles. I find myself and those I love in every one of these photos and hope to see more!
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