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[non]fictions: Phil Sharp's moving portraits that show six degrees of separation

Do you know that theory on how we're all supposedly six or fewer steps away from each other? Six degrees of separation? The idea that there's a chain of a friend of a friend.

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All images courtesy of the artist. Via Creative Boom submission.

All images courtesy of the artist. Via Creative Boom submission.

It was established by Frigyes Karinthy in 1929 and now forms the inspiration behind this beautiful portrait series by London photographer Phil Sharp.

Entitled non:fictions, the shots were taken around the capital, capturing a moment in each characters’ journey. The series is intended to be viewed in sequence, with each subject connected to the ones before and after in some way. "It’s a reminder that our behaviour affects people outside of our immediate circle," explains Phil.

"It started off with me wanting to find a way to combine landscapes and portraiture, I liked the idea of taking an interesting landscape, or topographic photograph, and seeing how the addition of a figure changed the way the viewer connected with it."

Follow more of the series on Instagram.

Person in red jacket standing beneath a brick structure with "THIS IS THE GATE OF HEAVEN" text above the entrance
Six people crossing a street at a zebra crossing in an urban setting, each absorbed in their own activity or conversation
Woman in dark coat standing with a small dog against a concrete wall beside wooden fencing and a street tree in an urban setting
A figure sits on a bench in front of a brick building at dusk, illuminated by wall lights, in Phil Sharp's (non)fictions portrait series
Person in red jacket and cap sitting in concrete courtyard surrounded by ivy-covered walls and a dark doorway
A person stands on a shadowed platform beneath an angular metal pedestrian bridge, with overgrown vegetation surrounding the brutalist concrete structure
Man in dark coat sitting on a bench on an urban rooftop terrace with modernist buildings in the background
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