‘What I Be’ features U. students

Founder and photographer of the “What I Be” project Steve Rosenfield discussed his photography and the importance of honesty to oneself at a lecture in Frist Campus Center on Wednesday afternoon.

Rosenfield has photographed people from a variety of backgrounds and spent this week taking pictures of over 80 Princeton students as part of the “What I Be” project, which he said aims to “create security through insecurity.” The photographs feature individual students with words describing personal insecurities written on their bodies, including on their hands and faces.

Former USG president Bruce Easop ’13 said before the lecture began that the project served as a conversation-starter in the days leading up to Mental Health Week.

Rosenfield, who is based in Davis, Calif., said that when he began taking photographs four years ago, his goal was to produce images that were “really dramatic and really raw.” He came to the University this week at the recommendation of Shirley Gao ’13, also from Davis, who first encountered Rosenfield’s work two years ago.

“It was very touching and striking for me to see these photos of people revealing parts of themselves,” Gao said. She explained that the project made an impact on her and she thought it would be “cool” to bring to the University.

Referring to journalism professor Evan Thomas’s opinion piece “The Price of Stoicism” published in The Daily Princetonian on Feb. 14, in which Thomas wrote that “I admire the students who are not afraid to reveal their defeats as well as their triumphs, and I wish the Princeton undergraduate culture made more room for that sort of honesty,” Rosenfield explained that he has noticed similar insecurities among students at other universities. He said the “What I Be” project aims to encourage individuals to be honest about their insecurities.

“The problems and insecurities Princeton students face aren’t unique or different; people all over have the same issues,” he said.

During the lecture, Rosenfield posed the question “Where do our insecurities come from?” to his audience. Among the suggestions from the audience were fear, others’ expectations, stigma, lies that one believes about oneself, past experiences, peers and society as sources of insecurities.

The photographs Rosenfield took at the University will be displayed in Frist, all the residential colleges and the Carl A. Fields Center during next week’s USG-sponsored Mental Health Week. Whitman College will host an art gallery-styled reception from 5-7 p.m. on Friday, March 1. More than 20 people are currently on the waitlist to be photographed by Rosenfield before he returns to Davis at the end of this week.

“We are trying to start a conversation and movement to make ourselves more honest to ourselves and our peers,” Gao said.

Rosenfield will lead a public dinner and discussion event on Thursday, Feb. 21 from 5-6:30 p.m. in the Butler Private Dining Room.