One of the
most humanizing characteristics of people is their
mannerisms. Mannerisms are easily a source of embarrassment
for some people when they are pointed out. While some people
may be hesitant to admit to it, every person has many of
these idiosyncratic behaviors. In a lot of cases people are
not even aware of these when they are doing them. There are
any number of triggers that cause mannerisms from
nervousness, anxiety, boredom, and restlessness. In many
cases mannerisms become habitual and have negative
associations for being similar to ticks. I know in my case,
since I started the project I have become much more self
aware in noticing many of my own mannerisms and have started
keeping track. In my search there was some difficulty in
simply getting people to recognize their action because
mannerisms tend to be such unconscious actions but lists
quickly grew.
In my series I have photographed many people enacting one of
their mannerisms. I gave the choice to the subject of what
they wanted to show. In the images I consistently cropped to
focus on the mannerism and obscure the person. This is to
keeping the viewer focused on the idea that these actions are
universal and not so unique to any one person. While some
people’s mannerisms may be an uncommon action themselves,
triggers are often the same. I sought out mannerisms with
many various triggers to take away from bad connotations of
just nervous mannerisms because those are often the most
noticeable and profound. I asked each person to sum up what
they believe causes it and accompanied it as text in the
image in the image.
The final intention of this work is to help recognize this as
one of many humanizing characteristics. By printing them
large and displaying them as a grid they come together nicely
as an examination of just one small part of human behavior. I
will continue with this series and as it grows the actions
lose stigma and hopefully people begin to self
reflect.
One of the
most humanizing characteristics of people is their
mannerisms. Mannerisms are easily a source of embarrassment
for some people when they are pointed out. While some people
may be hesitant to admit to it, every person has many of
these idiosyncratic behaviors. In a lot of cases people are
not even aware of these when they are doing them. There are
any number of triggers that cause mannerisms from
nervousness, anxiety, boredom, and restlessness. In many
cases mannerisms become habitual and have negative
associations for being similar to ticks. I know in my case,
since I started the project I have become much more self
aware in noticing many of my own mannerisms and have started
keeping track. In my search there was some difficulty in
simply getting people to recognize their action because
mannerisms tend to be such unconscious actions but lists
quickly grew.
In my series I have photographed many people enacting one of
their mannerisms. I gave the choice to the subject of what
they wanted to show. In the images I consistently cropped to
focus on the mannerism and obscure the person. This is to
keeping the viewer focused on the idea that these actions are
universal and not so unique to any one person. While some
people’s mannerisms may be an uncommon action themselves,
triggers are often the same. I sought out mannerisms with
many various triggers to take away from bad connotations of
just nervous mannerisms because those are often the most
noticeable and profound. I asked each person to sum up what
they believe causes it and accompanied it as text in the
image in the image.
The final intention of this work is to help recognize this as
one of many humanizing characteristics. By printing them
large and displaying them as a grid they come together nicely
as an examination of just one small part of human behavior. I
will continue with this series and as it grows the actions
lose stigma and hopefully people begin to self
reflect.
