Marasi Elsheikh

Artist Statement

As a kid, the second I came in contact with a phone I’d start snapping selfies of myself. As I grew, I began to shy away from the camera's view. My new instinct was to flip the camera and capture the world around me instead. In my current photography I am rarely featured, and if I am it’s not visibly me. I strive to capture moments of solitude and isolation, whether or not they are actually the case. 

Having two journalistic parents meant I was expected to find my voice from a young age. As an infant, my way of doing that was by drawing on the walls. When I was old enough to talk, it became a nonstop stream of words. As soon as I could write, it was story after story. Photography was a natural next step in my journey of expression. Each click of the camera signified another moment I had just captured from my own eyes. Any words or drawings or text I could imagine could never replicate a moment I had experienced. To me, a picture is the closest thing to bringing someone into a moment with me—through me. 

— Marasi Elsheikh, New Haven Academy ’26

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