Inside Out

What does inside out mean? The official dictionary definition is „the inner surface turned outward“. This definition can obviously be interpreted in many different ways.

To turn something inside out could simply mean to put ones clothes on backwards. Or to turn something outward, which tends to be be naturally turned inward, like the legs of a ballet dancer or the skin of a fruit, maybe. A cover that is turned inward to protect something within.

To turn this protective layer outward can mean to be brave, to escape ones protective shell, so to say. Inside out can mean to step out of a comfort zone and to face what the world has to offer. Like a caterpillar in a cocoon that finally faces the world as a butterfly.

This could be a metaphor for overcoming a fear and to escape the cover of comfort and protection, maybe through facing a feared situation or overcoming a vice. Or breaking out of a human relationship which has become wearing. It can also mean to bare ones deepest inner thoughts and feelings after holding them to oneself for a long time. Possibly through telling the truth to somebody, or exposing a secret.

In conclusion, I think inside out means to step out of any kind of protective and comfortable position that may also be holding you back. To open oneself to the world and become „free“. To develop a photo series out of this interpretation is not an easy task. It is difficult to capture a mental process through pictures of people or objects. Finally, I decided to develop a concept that revolves around conveying a feeling of liberation and relief after a state of mental blockage, through creating a simple metaphoric image. A person, a personality, a living being full of emotions, which breaks out of a limiting cover.

For the protective cover, I decided on a layer of white paper, since that is easy to tear apart but not see-through until it gets ripped. However, paper is not easy to destroy from the middle of it but once it has a small rip it is almost to easy to tear it completely apart.

This fits the metaphor of how hard it is to leave ones comfort zone for the very first time because of a mental blockage, only to then see how easy it actually is to break free and live in mental freedom and to stand up to the endless possibilities that life offers. These were in a figurative sense invisible through the opaque paper until the first tear emerged.