"A fascinating glimpse into our daily lives" (Wired)
Beautiful and enlightening. Shows how simply and unexpectedly a series of objects can tell extraordinary stories about our existence. Stunning - a collection to get lost in." (Wallpapper*)
"Zuccotti formats the photos so that the objects are arranged in chronological order and a complete picture can be formed of an individual’s daily life [..] where assumptions can be made about who that person is — his or her gender, nationality, or line of work." (The Huffington Post)
"The premise is simple and the results are really quite beautiful" (Grazia)
Beautiful and enlightening. Shows how simply and unexpectedly a series of objects can tell extraordinary stories about our existence. Stunning - a collection to get lost in." (Wallpapper*)
"Zuccotti formats the photos so that the objects are arranged in chronological order and a complete picture can be formed of an individual’s daily life [..] where assumptions can be made about who that person is — his or her gender, nationality, or line of work." (The Huffington Post)
"The premise is simple and the results are really quite beautiful" (Grazia)
Every Thing We Touch by Paula Zuccotti
What's the first thing we touch when we wake up?
How do our favourite things reveal our hopes and fears?
Can objects tell the story of our lives?
Imagine how your day would look if you recorded everything that you touched.
From smartphone to soap, from spice to spoon... what if they were all brought together in one place? Would they tell a bigger story?
Driven by this idea, I travelled around the world to find people from an incredible array of ages, cultures, professions and backgrounds. I asked them to document every object they touched in 24 hours. Then I gathered those objects together and photographed them in a single shot.
From a toddler in Tokyo to a cowboy in Arizona, from a cleaner in London to a cloister nun in Madrid, Every Thing We Touch is their story told through the objects they own, consume, need, choose, treasure and can't let go.
Each image is mystery, a story, a work of art. Each is a moment in time: a life and a world reflected back at us.
The first 60 photographs I have taken were published on my book Every Thing We Touch: A 24-Hour Inventory of Our Lives (2015, Viking - English and Chinese editions). However this archive includes unpublished work and hosts 100 photographs taken between 2013-2019.
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Paula Zuccotti is a London-based Argentine designer, ethnographer, trends forecaster and visual artist. She is a leading expert in global consumption and a respected authority in consumer behaviour and product interaction – past, present and future.
For the past 20 years, she has been travelling the world researching people’s everyday lives and uncovering insights, envisioning user-centric products, brands and services for the likes of Google, Nike, IKEA, LVMH, Starbucks, Hyundai, McKinsey, and LG.
She is the author of "Every Thing We Touch: A 24-Hour Inventory of Our Lives”, the book that introduced us to storytelling with objects, as she portrayed the lives of people around the world presented by a single photograph of every object they touched in a day. Following this work, her first documentary “Future Archeology” creates a time capsule of lives, challenging us to imagine what future generations will learn about our habits, needs and desires when they study and decode our everyday interactions.
As photographer and filmmaker, Paula has also pioneered the “real people, real stories” approach to content. Camera in hand, she has evolved her ethnographic-documentary work into commercial campaigns such as the Nokia Connecting Series and directing the SKODA Octavia ‘Loved, not owned’ digital and print campaign.
Paula worked at strategic design company Seymourpowell for 12 years. As Director of Futures and Head of Research, she created and developed the company’s renowned ethnographic research offer.
Paula gained a BA Hons in Industrial Design from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA, FADU) and an MA in Strategy & Innovation from Brunel University, UK.
She is also a Professor of Cultural Trends and Traditions at Austral University of Argentina. Paula is an international keynote speaker (represented by Propela) and her work has been published and exhibited at galleries worldwide.
What's the first thing we touch when we wake up?
How do our favourite things reveal our hopes and fears?
Can objects tell the story of our lives?
Imagine how your day would look if you recorded everything that you touched.
From smartphone to soap, from spice to spoon... what if they were all brought together in one place? Would they tell a bigger story?
Driven by this idea, I travelled around the world to find people from an incredible array of ages, cultures, professions and backgrounds. I asked them to document every object they touched in 24 hours. Then I gathered those objects together and photographed them in a single shot.
From a toddler in Tokyo to a cowboy in Arizona, from a cleaner in London to a cloister nun in Madrid, Every Thing We Touch is their story told through the objects they own, consume, need, choose, treasure and can't let go.
Each image is mystery, a story, a work of art. Each is a moment in time: a life and a world reflected back at us.
The first 60 photographs I have taken were published on my book Every Thing We Touch: A 24-Hour Inventory of Our Lives (2015, Viking - English and Chinese editions). However this archive includes unpublished work and hosts 100 photographs taken between 2013-2019.
Paula Zuccotti is a London-based Argentine designer, ethnographer, trends forecaster and visual artist. She is a leading expert in global consumption and a respected authority in consumer behaviour and product interaction – past, present and future.
For the past 20 years, she has been travelling the world researching people’s everyday lives and uncovering insights, envisioning user-centric products, brands and services for the likes of Google, Nike, IKEA, LVMH, Starbucks, Hyundai, McKinsey, and LG.
She is the author of "Every Thing We Touch: A 24-Hour Inventory of Our Lives”, the book that introduced us to storytelling with objects, as she portrayed the lives of people around the world presented by a single photograph of every object they touched in a day. Following this work, her first documentary “Future Archeology” creates a time capsule of lives, challenging us to imagine what future generations will learn about our habits, needs and desires when they study and decode our everyday interactions.
As photographer and filmmaker, Paula has also pioneered the “real people, real stories” approach to content. Camera in hand, she has evolved her ethnographic-documentary work into commercial campaigns such as the Nokia Connecting Series and directing the SKODA Octavia ‘Loved, not owned’ digital and print campaign.
Paula worked at strategic design company Seymourpowell for 12 years. As Director of Futures and Head of Research, she created and developed the company’s renowned ethnographic research offer.
Paula gained a BA Hons in Industrial Design from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA, FADU) and an MA in Strategy & Innovation from Brunel University, UK.
She is also a Professor of Cultural Trends and Traditions at Austral University of Argentina. Paula is an international keynote speaker (represented by Propela) and her work has been published and exhibited at galleries worldwide.