This series of photographs investigates how personal boundaries and identities are constructed and regulated through social systems of recognition. Borders do not only refer to geographical divisions associated with migration, but also invisible frameworks that classify individuals through documentation and biometric identification. As an international student, my mobility rights depend on which country’s visa I hold. My visa application process made me realise that who I am, in institutional terms, is not defined by my physical self, but by shifting systems of verification.

Through this photographic triptych, I explore how contemporary identification mechanisms (appearance, fingerprints, and iris recognition) function as tools through which social systems control identity. My understanding of self-boundary also echoes Judith Butler’s notion that identity is something continually performed and validated through external frameworks, so it is fragile, shifting, and uncertain. Inspired by Francesca Woodman’s use of time-lapse and blurring effects, I decided to represent my experience by using time-lapse photographic approach to capture my body in motion. The images visually resist clear identification, symbolising my attempt to challenge fixed systems of recognition. For instance, I was using my hands to cover my face to blur my appearance. The work expresses that self-identity is not fixed but continuously reshaped through external systems of recognition.