Prisoner

Jianing Yu

yjn20040218@126.com

This photographic series consists of nine images structured in three interconnected stages, tracing a prolonged experience of psychological instability. The first three images explore a fragmented sense of identity, where the body becomes a container filled with external imagery, suggesting a loss of stable selfhood and difficulty in locating oneself within reality. The middle section develops this condition through the lens of Panopticon, in which the self is no longer only unstable but also subjected to continuous self-observation. Through repetition, screens, and multiple figures, the work visualises an internalised gaze where the subject becomes both observer and observed. The final three images shift towards a state of coexistence rather than resolution. Instead of attempting to eliminate instability, the work embraces its persistence, presenting a quieter negotiation between body, perception, and lived experience.