About This Project

Zheng Zhao

The photographic body of work Narcissus From The Mirror examines the effects of visual representation on the construction of personal identity and the possibility for an authentic representation. My identity will never be stable or singular. “No one enters the same river twice, because the river is different, and he is not the same person.”  Similarly, I cannot stop my identity from evolving in response to changes in the social environment. When I face different people and/or situations, I wear different masks and I even forget my prior self. If the mask is removed is the “real” me revealed? Or am I the product of the mask? 

My understanding of myself is constantly changing. Therefore, the subject is addressed in multiple ways. I explore both my external performance and internal self-awareness. By investigating the physical – appearance and traces – and the mental – my cultural background and childhood experiences – I explore my selves. 

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