WINNERS

I Could Not Sleep

  • Photographer
    Fatemeh Fani, United States
  • Prize
    Silver Winner in Technique/Wet Collodion

Upon immigrating to the U.S., I found myself between two disparate worlds, navigating dual identities and divergent experiences. This brought emotional and identity ambivalence suspended between my homeland and my new home. When war broke out between Iran and Israel in summer 2025, fear shattered my inner landscape. Sleepless, I clung to the news far from home, yet unable to feel distant. In that unrest, I began creating self-portraits: pretending to sleep, performing stillness while confronting fear, insomnia, exile, and the fragile line between survival and self.