These daily encounters have sharpened my awareness of being seen as the other—exotic, out of place, or simply not belonging.

To understand this experience more deeply, I documented the gazes I encountered while walking through the city each day for 12 days. Alongside this, I took a daily selfie, capturing how I presented myself to the world. This routine documentation reveals the interplay between my appearance and my perception of being watched. By noting the time, location, perceived gender, perceived intent of the gaze, and the effects these had on me, I sought to map the subtle dynamics of these interactions. The resulting installation visually organizes and gives form to my observations about being the subject of others’ stares.

I chose to work with printed self-portraits and study cards in pale blue, rose, pale yellow, and pale green, each color serving as a code for the different dimensions of these encounters. This color-based system allowed me to represent how I perceived each interaction and its connection to biopower in public spaces, as well as the psychopolitics embedded in urban design. For the third aspect of the installation, I used this same color-coded data to assemble a collage—a personal mapping of public space. Through photographing the places where these encounters happened, I externalized and reimagined how these spaces, and the gazes within them, have shaped the ongoing negotiation of my identity.