Project 101 is a personal collection of human marks and scars from all over the world, such as New Zealand, USA, India, Germany, Nigeria, Poland, Australia and UK. Each photographed person was interviewed about unique story behind his/her scar.

Almost all of us have at least one scar on our body, such as a birth mark, wrongly cut umbilical cord, hypertrophic scars or just regular tattoo. People create scars by piercing and deforming their bodies since ancient times. The permanence of scarring has led to its intentional use as a form of body art within some subcultures. Ritual scarring practices associate a positive meaning of word ‘scar’.

Meanwhile, there are people who do not want to see their scar. It brings back memories connected to either painful or intimate experience from the past. Psychological mark, like childhood trauma or depression, causes fear and repulsive emotions every time while seeing the scar. According to Clinical Psychology Review from 2001, any mental disorders may remit but leave psychological scars such as negative cognitive patterns on human brain. Yet many people have accepted their 'mental' and 'physical' scars and are proud of them.

Showcased at:

Slash Forward Exhibition, Real World Gallery, Brick Lane, London

'My son showed me his back recently. He has three shiney pink stripes in a ladder along his lower back that look exactly like stretch marks. He is growing too fast, as he already reached 203 cm.' - about 19 year old male from Essen, Germany

A year later my ear got ripped off in a rugby match and had to be sewn back on for the second time.

Having said that, I do like my scar. It reminds me how lucky I am.' - 29 year old male from Australia

'I was on my snowboard. I do not care how wide my scar is, I will go next year again.' - 20 year old male from London, UK

 

I wonder if it has made my lip more puffy than it would have been. I like it. It defines me.' - 28 year old female from Australia

'Playground love' - 23 year old female from London, UK

'When I was a student in Bristol, I was working in a bar. In the end of the night I picked up the rubbish to take out the back and broken glass cut through the bin along with my jeans and sliced my leg open. That night Massive Attack band was hanging around the bar [...]' - 34 year old female from Brighton, UK

'When I was 16 in the middle of taking GCSE’s, my appendix bursted. I missed half of my exams and had to take them the year after. That was traumatic experience for me and [...].' - 26 year old female from Brighton, UK