"Sweet Sixteen – It's your time to shine" is the title of the photo album that my best school friends Benny, Sophia, and Jil gave me for my 16th birthday, and which I've kept hidden away in a cupboard ever since. I was incredibly happy about the photo album because it's a true testament to my youth, true friendship, and also a bit of our adolescent madness. The three of them also put so much work into it, as it's not a traditional photo album, but a kind of photo story with photos, drawings, and endless sayings and quotes – our daily laughter food. You could actually say that the photo album is one big "inside joke," because no one but the three of us understands what's going on. I think that's also the reason why I value the photo album so incredibly much and at the same time haven't really shared it with anyone - I don't even think I've ever shown the photo album to my long-term boyfriend, even though it's been secretly slumbering in our apartment the whole time.
I don't have as much contact with all three of them anymore, as we haven't lived in the same place for a long time. Nevertheless, a deep trust and immediate understanding still exists between us, regardless of whether we see each other once a month or once every two years, or even just speak. I feel like the photo album is a true manifesto of our friendship, our trust, and also, in a kind of our own language. I actually wanted to highlight individual stories for the photo album and explain certain photos or drawings, but it just doesn't work! It simply can't be expressed in words, and it's simply not funny even if you explain it. So many experiences, vacations together, countless school lessons, video evenings, photo sessions, and much more merge into the most absurd stories and cross-references, which is impossible to make understandable. It shows all the more what a special friendship we had and still have. We could communicate almost without words; a glance was enough to trigger the next fit of laughter. I don't think I've ever laughed so much in my life. Whenever I see one of the three again, I feel that sense of connection resurfacing for a moment.
If I'm honest with myself, I was and still am a little embarrassed by the photo album, but I think that's less about what you see in it and more because I really only want people to see the album who understand the content, and that's just like four to two. I really hope that if the photo album goes on display, I'll get it back in one piece, so I can hide it away in my closet forever.
1 We regularly created abstract comics featuring ourselves, teachers, classmates, and other characters from our everyday lives, which served as the background in the photo album. Everyone had their own specialty. Sophia, for example, always drew Samara, the girl from "The Ring," and I always drew the Paul Frank frog, who also appears on the cover. If you look closely, the four Paul Frank monkeys have lips of different thicknesses, symbolizing each of us four.
2 Funnily enough, the four of us never partied or drank together, otherwise I could explain it all better.
