There is a good reason why we do not want colleagues, in-laws or the new neighbor to see us getting up in the morning: We are not perfect in the morning. Then the hair stands on end, the pillow is still on the cheek and we would like to leave the world outside. For her project 7 AM/7PM, Belgian photographer Barbara Iweins has documented how people change over the course of a day. She has captured the moments when we are most vulnerable and controlled. "You can still see the innocent in everyone's eyes before you meet reality."

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"People always have to be perfect these days, photos and selfies on Instagram and Facebook make us used to posing, but I'm interested in the imperfect, and if you wake up in the morning, you can not fake anything. This is the one true moment of your day when you can not pretend to anyone. I could see that through the lens of my camera. The men build up protection faster. After 30 seconds, they were fully recovered, "says the photographer.

For her project, Barbara Iweins had her protagonists stay overnight - or she got their keys to wake her up. "Then I felt like a burglar invading the privacy of a stranger - there is little more intimate than watching people sleep and then awaken them."

Was she surprised how people changed in just 12 hours? "I had expected even more," says the photographer. "Some even had the T-shirt in the evening, where they had slept the night before, the biggest change is seen in everyone's eyes.

See What Happens To Your Body When You Sleep With Socks On (May 2024).