Fragmented Identity
2016
35 mm film
Fragmented Identity examines the emergence, development, and valuations of specific identities as a result of circumstances and influences from external factors such as family, friends, institutions, social constructs, media, and more. Within a person’s lifetime, she may acknowledge some identities earlier in life. For instance, she may be initially self-aware about her gender rather than her professional identity. Over time, interactions with external factors result in a person gathering “fragments” of their identity. As she accumulates more and more fragments, she begins to value particular identities more than others and devote time to cultivating either the more impactful ones or the ones that she has more knowledge or certainty about.

These photographs further simulate society’s perception of a person. People shape their perceptions according to the fragments that a person may outwardly express. It is also easy for institutions to diminish the intrinsic value of a person to a mere construct or a social security number in the system. When another person views these and hundreds of other fragments holistically, they attain more insight on those identities’ contributions to that person’s overall individuality and their complexity as a human being.