Blank Expression - Sam Pierce

Blank Expression - Sam Pierce

Blank Expression centres on individuals moving through urban spaces on autopilot -absorbed in their devices and thoughts, enclosed within them and existing privately. Their faces appear empty, almost unimpressionable, suggesting an inward focus that distances them from their surroundings. Within these moments of quiet isolation, the work contemplates the idea of sonder: the awareness that every passerby carries a life as complex as one’s own. 

Alongside these figures, the project considers the subtle traces of human presence within the street. The urban environment is continuously evolving as it is lived in -marked through everyday movement. By revisiting the same locations repeatedly, I have photographed the traces that I notice. These changes suggest lives passing through, even when the individuals themselves are no longer visible; they are echoes of past actions. 

As a pedestrian, the city is not always experienced with clarity. Movement creates fragmentation; faces blur, details merge, and the environment becomes momentarily abstract. Everything is in flux, where chaos, noise, and quiet moments coexist.  

After spending 18 years in a rural town, moving to Manchester felt disorientating. The scale, pace, and density of the city were overwhelming and unfamiliar. This series emerges from that experience, becoming a way to slow down, observe, and make sense of a space that once felt alienating.