Bags are the containers on our shoulders and backs that contain secrets and clues to our personalities and how we live day to day. Whether these items are for comfort, hobby, work or practicality it doesn’t matter. The important factors to highlight are why these particular items are chosen to be carried along with the physical body throughout the day, what is their history, how long with they stay on the person or be passed on and how materially attached the person is to what they carry on their person.
The BAG project has spanned nearly two years and has taken place in Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Urbana, IL, Glasgow, MT and Skagastrond, Iceland. The process of photographing someone with his or her bag becomes an intimate exchange for the time that the subject and I work together. We converse about their lives as I capture subtle micro-expressions and shifts in body language with my camera. I am looking for the moment when there is a trace of relaxation, discomfort or vulnerability in the model’s eyes for the final image. Every model responds to the notion of exposing their private selves to the camera differently and this emotional expression is evident in the images.
When it comes time to go through the contents of the bag, there are often a slew of apologies about the messiness or amount (or lack) of contents in the bag. I often find myself reassuring the model that their bag is indeed ‘normal’. We go through the contents together, as I catalogue them one by one. The question that divides the list in two is “What are you willing to part with from your bag, today and forever?” Some people take this to mean that I want something from their bag and feel obligated to gift me with many objects. The actual intention of the question is “What are you materially comfortable parting with…or not”? For some people, the answer is nothing. For some, it is a large bag filled with objects, trash, receipts, notes, etc.
The two additional elements, paired with the photographic diptych, tell us many things about the person while the only information we are given is their name, age and occupation. This minimal information alongside the other three elements begs further investigation and analysis. On the surface, the project can be seen as ‘fun’. The areas to consider more thoroughly are how difficult or easy it may have been for people to part with the objects in the bag, what the object they carry say about their socio-economic status, gender, and how all of the elements give us clues to the identity of the model. A booklet of all of the lists from all of the models accompanies the work to assist in this investigative research of the person and their BAG.

Ellie Brown is the artist for the project BAG.
Camille Thoman conceived of the concept.
http://elliebrown.com/section/94108_BAG.html