Issue 160

Someone once told me...

19th November 2007

The photo on the right is one of the many photos on www.someoneoncetoldme.com, apparently people often ask these Danish girls, "are you lovers?" The photographs were taken in McLeod Ganj, India, and immediately afterwards a stranger asked the question again. "No," they replied.

The photograph below is a personal favourite, taken right after the man in the photo had proposed, and the woman in the photo had accepted his proposal.

"So far, the pictures have been taken in places as diverse as London, India, Malta and Stoke-on-Trent," says Cacciottolo,

"The site offers an opportunity to examine those being photographed and the place where they're stood, both of which are always of interest in some way or another.

"But most of all it's a chance to learn something that someone has previously been told- the things that have stuck in people's minds for reasons known only to them."

Aside from running SOTM in his spare time, he works as a journalist, having covered such topics as suicide bombers in Israel, the effects of the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka, and a cat that got stuck up a tree in a suburb of Derby.

Cacciottolo seems to have a knack for capturing these beautifully obscure and rare moments, as many of the photos are drawn from personal experience and whether into photography or not, it's really something that hits to the soul when you come across a quote that strikes some inspiration in yourself. Cacciottolo mentions that "you don't need a fancy camera, just enthusiasm and a great quote!"

The photographer is keen to spread his abilities to the rest of the UK. Currently, there more than two hundred photographs are on the website and he's aiming to get literally hundreds more. There is the option of sending your own photos to the site, but if student demand is great enough then he will visit the campus at Swansea University then chat to the students about their experiences, and will discuss a fitting photo location along with asking students to come up with a meaningful quote. These quotes can be funny, sad, inspirational or even downright weird.

If you'd like to be involved, then contact editor@swansea-union.co.uk, and if enough people are interested then hopefully the magic of these photographs will be spread to Swansea University.

Amy Wilkinson