Paul Stümpel

The internet of storytelling

Department: Man and Communication
Website: www.paulstuempel.com

Once Upon Many Times

Paul Stümpel is fascinated by how various cultural influences mix and overlap through the internet. In his book Once Upon Many Times, he investigates a new way to tell a story through the children’s classic ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. The tale is reduced to a list of keywords like ‘sweet little girl’, ‘wolf’, ‘deceit’, or ‘triumph’. Each spread of the book is illustrated by the results of a Google image search for these words. The images reveal a rich collage of multiple cultural narratives that create a distinctive storyline based on associative interpretations rather than rational ones.