Self-Portraits
Hide Behind a Face was created during the beginning of my graduate studies, shortly after I moved from Iran to the United States. In this work, I explore the duality and the tension between free will and determinism. Beneath our emotional attachments, personal histories, and our sense of identity, we remain biological beings subject to forces beyond our control. This photographic print emerged from a period of intense existential reflection after leaving everything behind to move to a new country, as I questioned what it means to be human and how much of our lives are shaped by choice versus circumstance.
Through the medium of self-portraiture, I use my own body as a site for investigating these ideas. My self-portraits create a space and a moment for uncertainty and self-examination, where personal experiences of displacement become intertwined with broader philosophical questions about identity and the human condition.