Human interaction relies on an extraordinary skill we all share: deciphering faces. As we observe each other’s faces, unconscious cognitive processes orchestrate recognition and interpretation. This ability, a quintessential human trait, shapes understanding, connections, and social navigation. Our face recognition expertise rests on an innate ability to detect features. Eyes effortlessly navigate eyes, nose, mouth, and eyebrows, extracting nuances that define uniqueness. Yet, this intricate detection is just the beginning of a greater process, our ability to fit in, to understand, to blend in. At the same time, a human face is the window to the soul of the person. We, as humans, are all uniquely beautiful, independently of age, gender, origin. This is what documentary photographer Ruben Timman is showing us. He has dedicated his life and work to documenting the beauty and dignity of the humankind. He has portrayed more than 3,500 people in exactly the same way: straight from the front, with a black background, as pure as possible. He has also created the Museum of Humanity in Zaandam, north of Amsterdam. A museum dedicated to you and me, showing our differences but also our similarities, hoping to bring back a bit of comprehension amongst humans, one portrait at a time. The Museum of Humanity is a unique place, located in an old weapon factory, also witness of people hard working. It features portraits, great and small, of various origins and tells the stories of these people. It could be you, as well as me. The photos below are just a small example of these people staring back right at you.
