Self-actualization means personal growth

Self-esteem means emotional evaluation

Self-image means personality and appearance

Self-awareness means introspection

Self-compassion means kindness and care

Self-concept means being different or separation from the group

Self-love is much deeper than loving yourself

Desert type of love

Most importantly a caring attitude

This is a project that takes place between

The desert and my western tainted mind

Between exoticism and personal representation and power and technology

Between tourism and orientalism

I saw I want my right stickers

It’s staged and its fabricated

Social media is self-branding

When they talk about Petra it’s a chapter in

Amazing places on our planet videos

But its sooo much more

You have to go

There’s nothing like this desert energy

When I got way up the monastery some guy was listening to Future

Anyway I spent 5 days offline and now

I pray everyday to go back to that offline way

Just wanted to be different than tourists

Can’t really theorize this cos it really was spontaneous

So I staged selfies

So I staged self-love

The other good thing is that because my dad is from around there

The men there didn’t care about my clear eyes they liked my huarache

How do you go to petra when you’re an artist and not get upset that every single

image you’re gonna take is gonna be pure exoticism and total orientalism.

God Bless Hito Steyerl

One has to do it justice, and you can only do it justice by fictionalizing. Otherwise,

it’s not documentary.

Photography & Words: Alicia Mersy

Visitez:
www.aliciamersy.com