Photo blog 'Torn Lives' fills in the blanks
A PostSecret for snapshot fans, Torn Lives asks viewers to submit photos with missing pieces--and "complete" them with a short text.
Fans of blogs like PostSecret, magazines like Found, and of the strange allure of snapshots might want to take a look at a Tumblr blog called Torn Lives.
The site asks viewers to submit photos that have bits torn or cut away, and to include a short text that will somehow lend the incomplete photograph a sense of poetic wholeness (or at least poetic mystery).
This straightforward "assignment" lends itself to a variety of approaches. As with PostSecret, some of the participants here have apparently used the anonymity of the Web (and of the torn-photo format) to offer confessions or secrets (Torn Lives bills itself as "a blog where you get a true glimpse of someone's life").
Others have gone for something a little lighter and brighter. Some participants, too, seem to have taken photos specifically for the blog, while others have perhaps shared long-treasured family oddments.
And the variety of approaches lends itself to various levels of success. Regardless, it's fascinating to see what people come up with, and more than a few submissions are affecting and/or graphically compelling. Our gallery gives you a look.
