Things Tell Tales

Introduction

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Every object has two stories: what it is, and what it could become.

Things Tell Tales is my practice of noticing objects, traces, and overlooked details that carry atmosphere, memory, mystery, or wonder — then following them through sensory attention, guided observation, photography, research, and storytelling.

It begins with something found, chosen, collected, inherited, bought, kept, or simply noticed: an object whose material presence, traces, texture, form, scent, image, or association asks for closer attention.

• A toy

• A stone

• A key

• A botanical print

• An old book

• A ceramic vessel

• A tool

• A label

• A curious object from a flea market

• A fragment that seems to ask a question

Things Tell Tales began long before it had a name. It grew out of a lifelong habit of noticing objects that seem to hold a story: old books, toys, stones, prints, cards, tools, fragments, and curious finds that invite closer attention.

Some objects feel like clues. Some feel like relics. Some are specimens, signals, icons, doorways, witnesses, or fragments. What unites them is not their category, but their narrative potential: the sense that they carry more than their surface reveals.

Things Tell Tales moves between fact and imagination. It can become a factual object note, a fictional scene, a poem, a character prompt, a miniature story, a visual fragment, an essay, an exhibition label, or the beginning of a larger narrative.

Why Objects?

Objects are concrete. They give thought, memory, and imagination a point of contact. They let a story begin in the hand, the eye, the senses, and the imagination before it becomes language. 

They carry traces of use, material, place, time, design, craft, and care. Some are familiar. Some are strange. Some are ordinary until we look at them more closely.

An object can become a clue, a question, a character, a world, or a doorway into history.

Things Tell Tales invites us to slow down and ask:

• What am I looking at?

• What can I find out?

• What remains unknown?

• What story could begin here?

• What could this object become if I followed it further?

My Approach

I am interested in the moment when an ordinary thing begins to feel less ordinary.

An old book may first speak through scent, paper, binding, typography, wear, and weight before it opens into authorship, ownership, history, memory, and cultural context. A toy may become a story-handle. A print may become a doorway into season, place, craft, and atmosphere. A fragment may become a clue.

Things Tell Tales connects several long-standing interests of mine: photography, object research, sensory perception, collecting, storytelling, visual observation, and the rediscovery of things that might otherwise be overlooked.

It is closely related to my Attuned Perception Framework (APF), especially the concepts of Sinnesdinge and Sinnesartefakte: things, artifacts, heirlooms, and objects whose meaning becomes perceptible through context, attention, sensory presence, and careful interpretation.

For me, Things Tell Tales is both a creative practice and a way of making hidden value more visible. It is a way to listen to objects, follow clues, restore context, and turn observation into language.

This practice can also be shared with others.

The format can be adapted for children and teens, adults and writing groups, schools and libraries, care settings, cultural venues, small exhibitions, shops, and private groups.

The focus shifts depending on the context. With children, imagination and playful storytelling can take center stage. For writing groups, the focus may be on developing material and narrative inspiration. In care settings, it can offer a gentle way to observe, talk, and create something together. In shops or exhibitions, it can help make the meaning of things more visible.

In each case, the basic movement remains the same: from object to observation, from observation to research, from research to imagination, from imagination to story.