Inspired by Artist Nan Goldin’s ‘The Hug’ photo seen at The Metropolitan Museum New York, this image captured my imagination.

You can’t identify the emotional expression in the photo (as the embracing couple’s faces are hidden) however, there is an undeniable dynamic of intimacy in the couple’s bold hug.

I got curious about the different micro-expressions and body languages displayed between people - strangers, couples, friends, acquaintances during the fleeting moment of a hug.

Inviting friends, colleagues, family and friends of friends, I curated a space for people to be invited to hug and filmed this phenomenon and documented their reactions and interactions.

I’d love to plan another Hug Project - hard on the heels of the lock down easing up and witness the re-invigorated desire for human connection through touch.

On Saturday morning 10 people converged on a flat in North London and made a little history. They shot a complete short film drama entirely through the new Twitter app Periscope. An app which allows people to stream video from their mobile phone to the entire world and respond to the comments of whoever’s watching in real time.

As with any live event, the logistics were fiendishly difficult to orchestrate. The main actress was also the camera operator, who had to time her performance to not only work with the rest of the cast in real life but also of the cast commenting via the app. But the real surprise was the extra 150 unsuspecting Periscope users who joined to follow the stream, making following the scripted comments even more challenging.

Throw in a shoplifting scene and subsequent police phone call from an unknowing member of the public and things got a little hairy.

“Don’t know if this is real or not but finally something entertaining on Periscope” @TylerMiller_10

“I had only heard about the app 3 weeks ago and wanted to explore how the pressure of the crowd can make people do things they wouldn’t normally do”

Which begs the question of such a new medium, how will it be used in the future? If people aren’t engaging with live streams of people doing nothing, is there an opportunity to evolve the soap opera like Lonelygirl15 did almost a decade ago? Time will tell.