This untitled body of work is an exploration of fluctuating identity and the way we present ourselves in everyday life both online and offline. Created as a final project for a photography course at Northeastern University, this project aims to visualize the discomfort found in the journey to discover a cohesive identity.
As well as the internal struggle, I also wanted to explore the presentation of identity with an emphasis on my generation’s connection to digital spaces. While I have a certain appreciation for social media and digital technologies, I find it ironic that we’re so obsessed with our own image in a space that often promotes poor mental health practices. This paradox of insecurity in a narcissistic digital age is a driving inspiration for me and is a concept I've explored in a few different projects and research assignments recently.
I was largely inspired by Nadia Lee Cohen and Cindy Sherman’s work in portraiture, especially their observations of “characters” in our everyday lives, as well as digital surrealism art styles and traditional clown aesthetics. My goal was to lean into maximalism in the editing and styling of the subjects to create an exaggerated view of identity, which can often exemplify how it feels to be deeply entrenched in this struggle.
