Osamu Yokonami’s “Assembly” is an eye-catching and affective exploration of anonymity within collectivism. In a series of images that portrays different groups of girls wandering through various natural settings, Yokonami investigates humanity’s intrinsic tribalism, and questions how group living might alter our sense of self, or even erase the boundaries of our own identities—sometimes with good cause.

It is telling that Yokonami chooses to examine the dynamics of group formations within the context of girlhood. His models are all school-aged girls, and they are dressed in matching school uniforms, which are reminiscent of that seminal time in a young girl’s life when, approaching teen-hood, she is just beginning to forge an identity that is separate from that of her parents. Away at school, she turns to group structures to find her footing, and as peer relations become of prime importance in her life, she merges identities with her friends. This developmental milestone is a vulnerable experience, ripe with both possibility and insecurity, and Yokonami posits this raw juvenescence as a microcosm of how collectivism might function at a larger scale.

Within Yokonami’s collective, the individual disappears and achieves total anonymity. Not only are the girls in each image dressed exactly the same, but they are even captured in the very same poses—running on the beach, huddling together in the snow, and standing in line at similar increments. There is no hierarchy or diversity among the subjects. In most of the photographs, their backs are turned to the camera; even when they aren’t, the girls are so far away that their faces are never discernible to the viewer. Each person gets totally lost within the energy of the group, which forms its own tangible, composite identity; it’s the only element that feels truly individuated in “Assembly,” and it travels, as a single unit, from scenery to scenery, expanding and contracting in shape, but always maintaining its internal stasis.

While such a complete coalescence of identities might sound ominous at first, Yokonami actually seems to be highlighting the potential benefits of living as a unified collective, especially for young girls. In evolutionary biology, species that learn to form groups through social interaction typically gain an evolutionary advantage over more solitary species; thus where it completely annihilates individualism, group living fosters safety and protection in the wild. And there is, in fact, an almost primal undertone to Yokonami’s series: the landscapes are stripped bare of any modern infrastructure and the girls of any personal possessions; certain images even show the girls crouched down on the ground, seemingly foraging land and water for food.

With their safety in numbers, the girls are better able to guard themselves and one another from any potential predators, and this sense of protection afforded by group living naturally gives way to a sense of freedom: what one girl might be afraid to do alone becomes less daunting, and even enjoyable, as a group. They can let go— run through dark woods, play in the water, and roam through dense foliage—without any fear. Yokonami’s “Assembly” liberates young girls to explore nature to their hearts’ content through the experience of the collective, and as viewers, we vicariously taste their freedom in anonymity.

You can see more of Osamu Yokonami’s work on his website and Instagram.