Everything from the wardrobe

Last winter, fear took hold of me. I was afraid that death might suddenly bring my happiness to an end. I found myself wondering what would remain. The things that would need to be sorted out. The clothes. My clothes. They carry my shape, my scent, the small stains of everyday life. There are the repairs I postponed, shirts with missing buttons that I simply hung back in the closet, the jacket with the torn lining that never made it to the tailor, even though I had planned to go two summers ago. Each piece holds a trace of me. The choices I made. The trends I followed. So I began photographing my clothes. One by one. I laid them out on the floor and climbed a stepladder. I started with my winter clothes and my underwear.I also did some research, looking up where each piece had been made. Then I counted everything: 230 items in total, 37 percent black, 31 pieces produced in China. The photographs eventually became a book. .
Text and image by Mémé Bartels