Literature, art, and social sciences often address the role that a ‘sense of belonging to a place’ plays in enriching our social lives. When I moved to the United States for graduate studies, after initial amazement about the freeways and air-conditioning, I became starkly aware of my inability to relate to my surroundings. This sense of alienation intrigued me. It also made me interested in the history of American vernacular landscape, architectural theory, and the psychological relation we have with built spaces around us – in the words of Gaston Bachelard: the “poetics of space.” The built environments not only occupy space but also embody time. They can be experienced as recessed in the past or projected in future. For example, signs such as ‘moved to,’ ‘coming soon,’ ‘future home of…’ imply spatial, and architectural forms that are in the process of becoming. In my work, I interpret my current landscape as an immigrant transitioning from being an outsider to an insider. In this way photography, for me, is a process of acclimatization, not only of perception but also of all senses that read cultural stimuli. The phenomenology of the manufactured or altered spaces around me is the core subject matter of my work.

The process of photography lets me explore the contemporary culture that harbors affinity for instant gratification through short term (sighted) planning and casual abandonment, and the commendable human quality of tirelessly altering the surroundings, as if in the pursuit of happiness.