My name is Maryam (Nilu) Ghasempour Siahgaldeh, an Iranian artist and MFA candidate in Photography at Penn State. My work explores migration, memory, and the feeling of being far from home and loved ones. Before moving to the United States, I worked as a social documentary photographer in northern Iran, documenting everyday life and overlooked stories. After migrating, I turned the camera toward myself, using double exposure to explore the space between the life I left behind and the life I am building now. My three self-portraits, Folded Beauty, Other Self, and Uncertainty, reflect the changes migration brings while showing how memories, family, language, and identity remain with us. Through doors, mirrors, and paper birds, I explore what it means to leave a place without completely leaving it behind.

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