In this body of work, I explore themes of loneliness, estrangement, and longing through self-portraiture, using my own image as a stand-in for family members I deeply miss. By presenting multiple versions of myself within a photograph, I create a visual narrative drawn from memories of past Ramadan evenings, when family ties once felt closer. While I act as a stand-in for several family members, I work with what is available to me, so the recurrence of clothing across these images reflects both the practical limits I face and the subtle ways I see myself mirrored in the women I miss. Each figure represents a different family member revealed by the titles, despite their visual similarities.
These images are not simply portraits of absence, but of longing and the desire for reconnection, where the body becomes a vessel through which familial bonds are mourned and reimagined. The separations depicted are shaped by generational cultural tensions experienced by first-generation Yemeni Americans navigating a fractured sense of identity, as well as by Yemen’s ongoing proxy war, which continues to divide families through violence and prolonged humanitarian crisis. The work explores the emotional spaces that exist between family members, revealing how love can persist despite physical and emotional distance.
Through this deeply personal project, I invite viewers to engage with the tight compositions—fragments of memory—and reflect on the complexities of familial relationships, the pain of distance, and the yearning for loved ones.
