DATE: 9/6/2012 | BY CORY REYNOLDS

Sophie Calle: The Address Book

In the August 2nd, 1983, edition of the French daily newspaper, Libération, Sophie Calle published the first in a series of entries: "I found an address book on the Rue des Martyrs. I decided to photocopy the contents before sending it back anonymously to its owner, whose address is inscribed on the endpaper. I will contact the people whose names are noted down. I will tell them, 'I found an address book on the street by chance. Your number was in it. I'd like to meet you.' I’ll ask them to tell me about the owner of the address book, whose name I'll only reveal in person, if they agree to meet me. Thus, I will get to know this man through his friends and acquaintances. I will try to discover who he is without ever meeting him, and I will try to produce a portrait of him over an undetermined length of time that will depend on the willingness of his friends to talk about him—and on the turns taken by the events…" Featured image is reproduced from Sophie Calle: The Address Book, recommended this week by The New York Times' T Magazine.