The Self-Portraits I series derives from a desire to communicate and express the artists’ concerns with personal and social issues of contemporary life, particularly, the struggle to understand and articulate cultural identity. In this series, Yousefian used photography as a medium for self-expression rather than simple photographic representation in order to express the complexity of her feelings towards her subject matter. Working with film photography negatives, Yousefian created “negative collages,” which were manipulated using cuts, scratches, and the application of glue. It is from these negative collages that her final photographic prints are made. The emotional impetus for defacing and distorting some of the negatives convey the anger and discomfort she felt at the time; this process suggests her ill-ease with two identities to which she felt no clear sense of belonging. The viewer becomes witness to her struggles to create and compose a dualistic identity that results from a crossing and clashing of cultures.