#dearcatcallers

2017-2018

#dearcatcallers

#dearcatcallers, It's not a compliment

#dearcatcallers is a new media + photography project wherein, for the duration of 1 month, I took selfies with my catcallers in the street to reverse the powerdynamics. I posted them on my instagram to raise awareness about this streetharassment.

It was a way to personally take back power in a usual powerless situation. As it was not a topic I usually talked about with my friends (it felt too frequent and too futile to constantly make a point about it) the pictures became a way to start conversations around this phenomenon. My female friends were all too familiar, my male friends had no idea that it really happened.
When the account went viral the comment section became a place to share and debate around the topic. Many genders and many cultures were giving their experiences. By initiating the '#', people from all over the world were participating and sharing the methodology.
In the composition of the picture the phenomena is visualised clearly; The men mostly laugh, showcasing their ignorance. The girls are serious, but on the forefront reclaiming the situation.

The account was created in a pre-#metoo era and went worldwide viral with 350.000 followers, millions of followers, thousands of comments and contributions form all over the world.
The #metoo movement arised 3 months after @dearcatcallers went viral, and the project was widely displayed as a visualisation of the this movement. I have given a wide range of international lectures and exhibitions around the theme and project.

In 2025, I archived the instagram account.
My intention of the project was always a personal coping with the streetharassment, and an aim to create a wider spread conversation. It has never been about shaming these specific men. I wish to cancel structural streetharassemt, I don't wish to cancel individuals.
I created the account in 2017 when #metoo and the followed cancelculture did not exist yet. Social debates are living phenomena and I believe archiving a project like this need contextual awareness to understand its intended position correctly. I don't think instagram(culture) is the same place as when this project was created.
I still fully trust and stand behind the project.

Exhibition FABRICA, Treviso, Italy

Artist talk in FABRICA

Exhibition Dutch Film Festival - Golden Calf Award.

Thousands of exhibited comments of @dearcatcallers