Worn Out Joy
2024 - ongoing
This body of work investigates the pursuit of fulfillment and happiness in the late capitalist era, where these ideals are increasingly mediated, simulated, or sold back to us as commodified experiences. Through photography, I document the ways individuals attempt to reach for these ideals, stage them for others, or quietly fall short—raising the question of whether such ideals are still attainable under conditions that restrict agency and limit social mobility. Alongside photographs of absurdity, alienation, and emotional dissonance, I also include images of children who are still permitted to be attentive, curious, and mesmerized by their surroundings without needing to justify it through productivity. The contrast speaks to what is gradually lost as we conform to roles that strip away curiosity and agency.
The project serves as an inquiry into our capacity as both consumers and workers. How do we seek meaning when work drains rather than nourishes us, and the promise of contentment is sold back to us in hollow forms?