Marc Augustave (left) & Tiereney Ulmer (right) (Sharing Smiles on Stairs), Collaborative Portrait
Two people sitting on stone steps on a sunny day. The person on the left has locs, is wearing a black shirt with tan pants, and is looking at the person on the right who is smiling, looking back, and is wearing a blue shirt with sunflowers on it, a yellow undershirt, and blue jeans.
Tiereney Ulmer | Dissonance
Project Statement
Through Dissonance, I explore the space I take up throughout the environments I interact with by photographing scenes from my home environment, the people I interact with, and the adventures I seem to find myself on throughout my days. The exploration of how I take up space derives from my constant struggles with imposter syndrome, depression, and body dysphoria, which originate from various surgeries and the opinions of others that have been involved in my life. Images include detailed views of my struggles to hiding my face, primarily using the texture and volume of my hair or the lighting of the areas I am in to distract the focus away from myself.
Creating these images helped me explore how much I allow other people to take up space in my life and also gave me a way to see my humanity from my own eyes. Looking at myself in these photographs gave me a way to see myself in a different light. I explored aspects of seeing a person outside of gender and body image-related mental health issues. Throughout my life, the way others perceived me--as queer, African-American, a transplant recipient, non-binary, autistic, chronically ill--or whatever label others thrust upon me--has profoundly affected how I see myself. Throughout this project, I learned that I sometimes make myself small to avoid dealing with my inner thoughts. These images I've created have given me space to reevaluate the perception of my self-worth and acknowledge that I should treat myself physically and mentally in a more thoughtful and caring manner.
“If the trees were yellow /
That would cure my heartbreak”
—Yellow by Kevin Abstract
Tired Under Blinds
A silhouette of a person with locs with their hand resting on the left side of their head in front of a set of blinds.
Sits On Bench
A person wearing a jean jacket, shirt and jeans sitting in the woods.
Joyride After Work
A person in the driver’s seat of a silver car with their hand and part of an elbow resting on the rim of the driver side window.
“Push and pull to rise and grind and took a stole / She built a storm, she bent the rafters”
—Watercolors by grouptherapy
Work Flow
A computer monitor with fingerprints on the screen next to a gaming console and the partial screen of an open laptop.
Passion Project
Two computer monitors and a television show a video game being played, illuminating the silhouette of a person leaning towards the television.
There is No Room
A cracked door shows a bedroom with various items piled on top of the bed and around the floor, and the profile of a man with locs sitting in a chair with the back of a television blocking his lower half.
“We are the dreams of our parents lost in the future / Who hide the deepest desires and wear a mask like a lucha…”
— III. Life: The Biggest Troll (Andrew Auernheimer) by Childish Gambino
Hides Behind Phone
A person wearing a black sweatshirt looking down at their phone with their back towards the camera.
Always Left Behind
Three people walking down a dirt path.
Hides Behind Hair
A person with bushy curly hair eating in a parked car.
“Where black girl magic is sometimes blue…”
— Peng Black Girls by Enny ft. Jorja Smith
Caught Off Balance
An African-American couple both wearing striped shirts looking directly at the camera in a crowd of people.
Who is Really Driving?
A person with glasses and short curly hair in the driver’s seat of a car with their hands on the steering wheel.
Concert Memories
The side profile of a person with bushy curly hair wearing a blue jean jacket and a striped shirt sitting in a row of stadium seats.
“Sunflower still grows at night”
— Sunflower by Rex Orange County