In the beginning of 2007 I was in a state of mind where I knew that I had to do something different than what I usually do – that is eat, sleep, hang out with friends and work as a freelance photographer in Copenhagen. I decided to go to Berlin and live in a friend’s flat, trying to write a novel. I just wanted to get away and into a world – an imaginative one – that I could create and develop through fiction. I did come up with a plot for the novel which I liked, and I did appreciate the way I went about writing – that is: forcing myself not to delete a single word from the text as I was writing the text – knowing from experience that editing while writing is the safest way to make sure that you’re writing a never-ending story. (I once wrote half a novel in four years because of this unconstructive editing mania).

But. Even though the Berlin novel progressed with high speed I couldn’t sit still. I just couldn’t. The street was calling. My legs wanted to move me through parts of the city I didn’t know. I’m a sucker for long lenses. I’d brought my camera to Berlin, and decided to buy a 400 mm lens. And then one day during one of my walks I ended up on the railroad bridge on Warschauer Strasse. People were coming from all sides toward me, and I decided to face them with my camera and the long lens – to react to the fact, perhaps, that I so badly felt the need to be close to people again after so many days of solitude spent in the land of fiction.

That’s how the We’re All Gonna Die-project started. During the next 30 days I spent 20 on that bridge, trying to paparazzi my way into the minds of strangers.

Simon Hoegsberg – Denmark.
http://www.simonhoegsberg.com