Nyia Sissac

Photography for the past years has been used as a tool for healing emotional, mental, and physical pain. It has helped me feel my emotions when words and tears weren’t enough. See Me for Who I Am, was used to expand my photography from digital into medium format film but also as a reflection of the pain I felt from a recent breakup.

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The word breakup defined as,” the separation or breaking up of something into serval pieces or sections.” Like the way my heart felt there was many stages of grief that were felt during this time such anger, depression and finally acceptance. With both parties at fault there was nothing there but anger at another failed relationship, mostly angry with myself I didn’t see the signs this wasn’t working out. I also felt guilty, I felt what everyone feels as if they can fix something that’s permanently broken. I decided to take that anger, guilt and subtle depression and put it into my work. At first when creating this series, I was inspired by a lighting setup but as I began to photograph my subjects, I realized it was more than that.

There was intimacy in the hiding parts of the face and body, only seeing certain shadows made me acknowledge the parts of where I was missing. But the parts that were seen on the subject made vulnerable and exposed. These images made me realize how much of myself I had given up and that there was more to me than just the surface. The more I look at the subject I begin to realize that this has healed me in a way. It makes me feel stronger such as the highlights on the face and body, and it shows that there is growth and strength in loving self.