Haley Morris-Cafiero, was living a normal life and often heard people making comments on her weight but was never able to see it on their faces. One day when she took a picture she saw what she wasn’t able to, the faces of people around her when she’s not looking. She made this into a series where she would go to public places, dressed as normal as possible and take pictures of herself doing normal things. Upon seeing these photos we can say how judgemental humans are.
Haley Morris-Cafiero is an American photographer and the Acting Vice President of Academic Affairs at the Memphis College of Art. As a teenager she was anorexic and a bit muscular due to her involvement in sports. But due to her hypothyroidism, she gained quite a lot of weight in college. This was the start of her journey where she would be discriminated against due to her weight. Even after many diet attempts she couldn’t lose the weight due to her hypothyroidism.
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While working on a project Haley accidently captured a self-portrait which had a passerby with an amused expression. Later looking at the picture she noticed the passerby was observing her and the expression was a result of that. She then tried to capture more reactions. Having experienced people commenting on her weight she never thought she’d be able to get a photographical proof of people’s reaction.
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You must be wondering why she does it. In her own words Haley has said “I don’t do it out of anger. I consider it a social experiment. It’s not a ‘gotcha!’ kind of sensationalism. But it is taking the camera and reversing the gaze of the stranger back on to them. I think it’s a barometer of society, really.”
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Let’s see the results of “Wait Watchers”
This image of Haley sitting on Coca-Cola steps in Times Square is what started it. She was out doing a project, wearing what she normally wore. When she got the pictures back she noticed it, the man behind her looked like he was sneering at her. “I didn’t know him nor what he was thinking but it made me wonder: What if I were to set up a camera and photograph the scene as people pass me and see what happens?” She said and she began her “Wait Watchers” project.
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Haley sets up her camera in a public place and stays there for a while. She doesn’t dress herself up, or act erratic or do anything to get any attention on her. She jus stays there being normal and yet she is able to photograph people’s eyes on her.
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Taking these pictures she has help a lot of young people not just women in knowing they are not the only ones who go through this alone. She has spoken out on fat shaming and discrimination towards overweight people.
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The series has gotten some criticisms as many people believe the people in the picture are just glancing towards her and not judging her. Some people think this is a PR stunt as weight issues are in the spotlight and these images are meant to boost that topic.
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Many people believe that these photos are staged and that Haley poses to get people’s attention before the photo is clicked. Haley had to explain that she hides the camera and in no way does anything to get people to react to her. The reactions you see in the images are 100% real and she is just standing there.
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“From the beginning, I was excited when I found an image as I am always surprised at how a camera can freeze an ephemeral moment that lasts only a microsecond. Every time I got a successful image, I was motivated to shoot more.” She said while working on this project.
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If you sit and see these photos you too might feel like in some images, the people are merely glancing at her and not judging. But in the photo above it is quite clear. Not trying to shame anybody or be mean but a photo is a photo; it speaks for its self.
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This photo is one of the examples where it is not clear whether it is a glance or a judgmental stare. Many people would fight and say a simple glance is nothing to get offended about and yes, that is true. If we were to get offended by a simple glance, we’d destroy our society in days.
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When these images were first published people didn’t notice the actual point of these images. It was images of her standing still and surrounded by strangers. It’s only on the second glance that they noticed the people around her and the way the people were looking at her.
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You can see the judgmental sneers and stares; you can even feel them in some of these images. One could call these pictures performances. Morris-Cafiero set these photos up in a way to harvest the reactions of people to just her human presence.
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We often take for granted the world we live in as we don’t face that many problems. We feel that everything is going well for us so it might be for others too. We never know and never will know the inner workings of a troubled person’s mind. Sitting in a park we might feel amazing while someone besides us is just mentally dying because of their insecurities of being there.
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Just ask yourself once, would you like to be looked at like that? Now many would say “I don’t care! It’s all about being comfortable in your own skin!” and I agree with that. But my question is would you be okay with being stared at or looked at like how she is in the image? The first and only answer will be no unless it’s sarcastic.
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When these images went viral Morris-Cafiero’s life changed. “I was a photography professor who had no idea about media management. Three days later, I found myself lying in the fetal position after emailing constantly, talking on the phone with four international news outlets and being scheduled for travel to do talk shows. It became a full-time job’s worth of work for the next year and a half.” She said.
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Once the images went viral, Morris-Cafiero started getting judged on two platforms- one in real life and the other and harsher, online. She has been abused and called an attention seeker by many and the comments on her images show the grim reality of the world we live in. “I started receiving hateful emails when Huffington Post published my work and they have continued to come in a steady flow ever since.”
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Being online can be attributed to being in a minefield for one’s self-confidence. Now imagine being put on a pedestal online and being in front of millions of people who are mean and hateful and think whatever you are doing is just for attention.
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There are two things Morris-Cafiero values while creating her work and they are "performing for the camera and pushing society to question their position". Since she went viral she had to deal with numerous hate mail and criticism. “Bullies like to delete comments and profiles when they are put in the hot seat. Instead, use your creativity to develop a response that sticks.”
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In today’s age of the internet it has become really hard trying to fix it. Anyone who puts themselves out there on the internet is like a lamb to slaughter. No doubt they will have supporters and people who admire what the person is saying but there will also be haters and trolls waiting for a new target to destroy.
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“For each of the people who wrote me nice, supportive messages, I try to take the time and email them a nice note back. For the mean ones? I open a Google search and start researching their public profile.” She said about her supporters.
“If I responded to them in text form, my message would be deleted or fuel their hatefulness, but my research has found that an image cannot really disappear from the internet. So my new project is going to be about responding to the online bullies using my body. It takes on a form that they are not expecting because of their assumptions about the internet and the way it works.” She said on dealing with negative people towards her work.
I am going to use the same worldwide audience who used “Wait Watchers” in the past to spread these new images all over the internet.” She said in a recent interview. Whether you agree or not, whether you think this is all just a publicity stunt or the images are staged. You have to agree this opened a whole new window on what happens around us when we’re not looking.
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