Self-Portrait Photography Project – "Emotional Terrain"
Instructor: Francisco Duque
Instructor: Francisco Duque
Mehrsa’s self-portrait series reflects the emotional journey of emigration from Iran, capturing a range of emotions—happiness, sadness, loneliness, pride, freedom, power, and madness—that have shaped her identity during this transformative period. Photographed at home, the portraits symbolize a space that serves as a refuge and a battleground for these emotions, where personal and political worlds intersect.
The presence of cultural elements, such as the Persian carpet brought from Iran, serves as a bridge between past and present. This symbol of heritage anchors the series, reminding Mehrsa of where she comes from while navigating new terrain.
In combining these influences, the self-portrait series becomes a tapestry of emotions and experiences—rooted in the reality of life as an emigrant yet infused with the fantastical, unseen, and modernist. Drawn to the whimsical, almost surreal elements in Prideaux’s work, there is a deliberate effort to incorporate that sense of fantasy into the self-portraits. Each photograph is not just a reflection of the outer self but a window into a complex inner world shaped by the journey, heritage, and an enduring quest for identity and freedom.
