






Christoph Borek
manyFACES
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| Editor(s) | Stiftung manyFACES |
| Author(s) | Christoph Borek, Matthias Löcker |
| Design | Matthias Löcker |
| Size | 28 x 25.5 cm |
| Cover | Hardcover |
| Pages | 504 |
| Illustrations | 3250 |
| Language(s) | German, English |
| ISBN | 978-3-96912-280-8 |
German photographer Christoph Borek (b. 1980 in Wolfenbüttel) encourages people to cast aside their masks and reveal their true emotions. Because these connect us. “We constantly talk about how different we are and in doing so, we overlook how similarly we feel.” For eight years, Borek traveled, seeking in-person encounters, and photographing over a thousand people who volunteered to have their pictures taken. Each individual was asked to express, genuinely and before the camera, three of the core human emotions: joy, anger, and pain. Instead of the self-staging and idealization that have become the norm, the focus here was on vulnerability and authenticity. The book manyFACES brings together these human pictures (totaling over 3000) and features the artist’s reflections on the project—a volume dedicated to togetherness rather than division.
Exhibition manyFACES
until September 27, 2026
Sankt Leonhard 2a
38102 Braunschweig
more info here
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