“No name — no shame” explores the hypothesis that anonymity may reduce the experience of shame due to a lack of personal recognition. Sociologist Erving Goffman, in his work “Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity,” discusses how individuals manage their identities to avoid shame and maintain social acceptance. This study suggests that anonymity can mitigate feelings of shame by reducing personal identifiability and the associated fear of negative social evaluation.

This shoot is a challenge — everything here was intentionally risky. Fit, provocative and naked; hairstyle and makeup — ugly and weird; poses — uncomfortable; location — dangerous and full of judgmental gaze.

During the shoot, the most common comment from the random passersby was: “Is this boy or girl?”. If people cannot even understand a model’s gender, they absolutely won’t recognize them as an individual, so they become an unrecognizable creature.

If the ability to be anonymous makes us so free, does it mean that we experience shame only when we can get recognized as a particular person with a gender, name, and social background? Is our name the reason for our shame?