What’s the most memorable thing you’ve ever been told? MyZA

Sometimes people tell us things that we carry inside us always – things about ourselves, about our lives, which we are never able to forget.

Someone Once Told Me (SOTM) is a website which captures the serious, silly, profound and profane things that people have heard in their lives. While the site features images submitted from many different countries, it is run by photographer Mario Cacciottolo from London.

Now he is travelling around the world in search of people’s stories and will be in Port Elizabeth from 18-28 July.

SOTM sees people write down the most memorable thing they’ve ever been told and pose with that sign for a black and white photograph. They also tell the story behind the phrase – who said it to them and the impact it had. Did it change their life? And of all the things they’ve ever been told, why choose this?

Every day, since 8 September 2007, a different photograph and story has appeared on SOTM’s home page – meaning more than 2,000 people have taken part so far. All the images can be found in the site’s gallery.

Featured phrases include:

“One voice can be stronger than one thousand voices”
“Oh, by the way, I electrocuted next door’s cat on Sunday”
“Oh my God, we got the wrong guy”
“Don’t play with fire”
“I think I’m pregnant”
“You’re directionless”

Now Mario, who is British/Maltese, has been travelling the world since June and will visiting about 23 countries in one year, aiming to get at least another 1,000 people to tell him about an unforgettable moment from their lives.

He will be travelling to Europe, South Africa, Dubai, South East Asia, Japan, China, Australia and North America, looking for volunteers to take part in SOTM.

He will be looking for people from these countries to reveal the most powerful words they have ever heard, and the stories behind them.

He will also be promoting the SOTM iPhone app – its profits go to Operation Smile, which operates on children with cleft palates in poorer countries around the globe.

The SOTM site is at www.someoneoncetoldme.com Mario can be contacted via email mario@sotmario.com, twitter @SOTMario or Skype – SOTMario.