'I get inspired by the people or objects I see on a daily basis, which can make doing really boring things actually quite fun.' - NadiaLeeCohen
, a photo book of 33 hyper-specific characters created from vintage name tags collected at estate sales and flea markets. Each character’s portrait is accompanied by a still life of the detritus that might fill their imaginary pockets . The book is a masterpiece in world building—but Cohen, as she reminded us in a recent conversation, has been conjuring characters out of thin air since she was a child.
NADIA LEE COHEN: I was in an argument with security at Heathrow airport because I asked them not to put my film through the X-Ray machine. The guy working there didn’t understand it could damage them and thought I was smuggling drugs or something. He told me if I didn’t stop making a fuss he would call the police, so I stopped making a fuss.COHEN: Two British pounds from when my mum asked me to get some chips the other day. One red glove .
The rest of the tags and objects I picked up all over the place, mostly at flea markets, car boot sales and charity shops.Teena because she’s basically the teenage me. It started with her Pizza Hut name tag. I used to work in a burger van, and would sometimes nick the change and put it into my Wellington boots. Teena is a smoker as I was—but in the video, it’s all for show. I never actually inhaled the smoke. Teena’s spock brows are based on my dark eyebrows that were bleached a light brown and plucked into oblivion.