If I offered you the chance to tell me a story about yourself, what would you say? If I reassured you that what you said would remain anonymous, would you sit in the solitary spotlight of my attention and speak? And what if I asked you to tell me two stories, one that was true and one that was not, what then?

The people involved in this project did exactly as I asked. Sitting before me in a dusty basement in Liverpool, they each told me their two tales. As they spoke, each storyteller had their photograph taken, but in such a way as to conceal their identity. And I promised them nothing in return: I told the participants that I might reproduce their stories wholesale, or not at all. I might use one or both or none. Or that I might take the raw material of their memories and lies and from it fabricate something entirely new.

I never asked which of the stories was real. It doesn’t really matter. We all have stories to tell, and we spin different versions to please or to fool, to get us closer to the person we want to be, or to pretend to be someone we are not. And if it’s easy to add an embellishment here, an exaggeration there, with the listener none the wiser, what harm can it do? The line between fact and fiction was, after all, never so sharp.

So the stories you read here may or may not be true. And if it matters to you, remember this: my storytellers didn’t promise not to lie, and neither did I.

Forsaken Identity began life in the basement of a temporary gallery in Liverpool – a former paint shop that was requisitioned by a ‘collective of collectives’ during Liverpool Biennial 2010. It also began life as a one-off, but the stories we were told were intriguing enough for us to want to repeat the process again in another city. What we found, in that dusty basement, was that most participants seemed to treat the exercise as one of confession – either that or they really were all fantastic liars. And what we also discovered, and which we haven’t yet found a way to process, is that almost everyone told us the same story twice. Different times and characters, yes, but essentially they told us the same thing about themselves in each story. Interesting.

Edition #1: Liverpool

These stories are gradually being published online, here. Remember – what you read may or may not be true, and the images that accompany the stories may or may not be of the ‘real’ storyteller.

Edition #2: Manchester

We are currently looking for volunteers to be interviewed and photographed in Manchester (at Cornerhouse) on Thursday 14 July 2011. Sign up via the Participate page. All participants remain anonymous.

Edition #3: New York

Forsaken Identity moves to New York later this year. We’ll post more details nearer the time.

We are currently looking for volunteers to take part in the Manchester edition of the project. Volunteers need to tell two stories and be willing to be interviewed (face to face) about both. Volunteers should be willing to have their photograph taken – the image will be taken in such a way that you remain anonymous. Your stories and portraits may be used to create a new fictional, illustrated story. In return, you’ll receive a signed, limited edition print of your photograph.

We are looking for stories from ordinary people about their lives: beautiful, mundane, magical, dark, secret, curious, the life changing or the heart stopping, or about the small moments in everyday life where the ordinary is illuminated. Stories don’t need to be big or clever; they just need to be about you, and to be believable.

Interviews take place at Cornerhouse on Thursday 14 July 2011. All participants will remain anonymous. If you’d like to share your stories with us, fill in the form on the Participate page and we’ll get in touch.