Missed Connections

Missed Connections

by Sam Waxman

The idea of the indirect self portrait has been a focus of my work for a long time; the way that simple words, treasured objects, everyday habits, can provide a small but dense snapshot of a person at a particular point in their lives. We are all creating and sharing indirect portraits of ourselves constantly. Even the external information we receive is largely filtered through monstrous algorithmic self-portraits of our own creation. Paying attention to the more subtle markers of self-expression allows us to slow down and think about the ordinary things that make us human, and there are few better archives of these kinds of markers than Craigslist. One of the few remaining relics of early internet commerce and communication, Craigslist is a cultural tome of emotional snapshots. Objects for sale tell stories of lives past, apartment sublet ads invite us to become characters in a stranger’s life, lost and found ads tell stories of longing and elation. As a teenager, craigslist personal ads provided some of my only real-world glimpses into queer life, and allowed me to indulge my sense of adventure through rideshares and couchsurfing. The “missed connections” category is by far my favorite and the most endearing section to read. Missed connections ads are the internet equivalent of screaming into the void...memories and desires that have turned into fantasies of love, anger, sadness, hope. They are heartfelt, bizarre, horny, funny, but most importantly they are sincere. These stories aren’t factual recounts of events, but rather individual memories of them. They are intimate and revealing stories of ordinary life; perfect capsules of everyday emotion and banality. I want to memorialize these emotional snapshots the way that we memorialize all great stories of cultural relevance. Using a selection of missed connections ads, I want to create and photograph a series of scenes based on their stories which will exist as film stills in the lives of their authors.