New Yorkers don’t have a reputation as being the friendliest people, but that didn’t deter photographer/artist Joy Mckinney from choosing it as the location for her project to invade people’s personal space.

In her new photo series ‘The Guardian’, Mckinney photographed herself going up to 74 total strangers and touching them in the face.

According to Mckinney her experiment was about ‘breaking down social norms’ and connecting with people in a ‘real and meaningful way’.

She admits she was initially worried about how people would react to her unusual request – especially given the common perception of New Yorkers as guarded and anti-social.

Instead Mckinney found that the majority of people she asked were willing to participate, even if they usually wanted to find out more about what she was planning to do to them.

Mckinney uses photography and video to explore contemporary social and cultural attitudes towards gender and race.

According to Mckinney the underlying message of ‘The Guardian’ series is that all people need to be more open to engaging in different experiences.

‘The more we engage and the more we share with each other the more we can become connected,’ said Mckinney. ‘That was my ultimate goal. What I wanted to do with my photographic work was to explore how we can break through those social boundaries.’