Every single person has insecurities. As a teenager, I think about my insecurities quite often. When I was trying to decide what the final project would be for the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science Photography Club, I came up with a way to speak on these insecurities, but also highlight the good in people.

The project is called Faces of Perception. With this project, I wanted to speak on the insecurities that each of us battle every day. I also wanted to show that oftentimes our friends view us as polar opposites of what we think of ourselves. The goal of this project is to enunciate the stark difference of these perceptions.

Here’s how the project works.

1. The subject comes in with a list of their insecurities, which are then written on various parts of their upper body.
2. After I take pictures of the subject, they wash off the insecurities and return with their friends.
3. Finally, their friends write positive things on the subject, and the subject reacts (with me taking pictures in real time) to what their friends wrote.

With the help of the MSMS Photography Club, I brought together six students (including myself) and a teacher at MSMS. Lauren Hill, a senior at MSMS and subject in the project, said the project was a cleansing experience.

“I felt revitalized and rejuvenated,” she said. “I didn’t know my friends thought that way of me. I thought all they could see were my insecurities cause that’s all I could see.”

This project was full of surreal experiences. Standing in front of someone, holding a list of their insecurities and writing those insecurities on their body was surreal. Being surrounded by my friends and having them write positive things on me was surreal.

Faces of Perception is my proudest photographic endeavor, and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. The full gallery will go on live on May 5th on my website, and a physical gallery will go up in the Columbus Arts Council the same day.