Artist Statement
Words cannot make up a person. No matter how many words or how true they are, a person cannot be fully described by words. Nevertheless, people are labeled: athlete, loner, nerd, fake, innocent, etc. They come from our peers, our parents, our teachers, our coaches, and ourselves. We are labeled by everyone and we label others. These labels do not define a person, but sometimes we forget that. Sometimes we get caught in our labels and we let them trap us and hold us back. Sometimes we walk around with the feeling that when people look at us all they see are labels. Sometimes we let our labels define who we are.
In my project I have depicted the way labels affect us. Each of my subjects chose 20 words that label them: words that they think others would use to describe them as well as words that they use to define themselves. My photos show how labels can hold people back while also showing the strength in overcoming these labels.