judgments

Who Do They Think They Are?

And who are they, really?

Photo: Ruvan Wijesooriya
Photo: Ruvan Wijesooriya

Every day, we put out into the world a version of how we want to be seen — and, of course, we’re always misunderstood. Each week in our “Judgments” photo project, we’re asking strangers on the streets of New York City to size each other up.

Allaa (above)

GUESSES
“She’s 24 and a business major, a grad student.” —John, 35

“She looks very nice, I don’t think she does anything too crazy.” —Amber, 19

On Saturdays, she’s watching Netflix or reading a book. She seems fun, she has a bunch of balloons. Her outfit is cute and something I would wear.” —Anonymous

REALITY
College student, 18. “I was born and raised in Egypt and came here around nine years ago. Now I’m a biology major at York College, in Jamaica, Queens, and I want to be a pediatrician. It’s a bit hard, but I’m excited about it. I like kids and I feel happy when I help someone out.

“I live with my parents and my siblings in Queens. Back in my country I had a huge family, but now it’s a small family, so I had to get used to it. But it’s fine, I can handle it. I have two best friends who are more like family; I spend most of my time with them. It was my best friend’s birthday — that’s why I had the balloons. We were going to eat at Max Brenner’s.”

Jessica Boddy, Emma Grillo, and Sarah Nechamkin contributed reporting. On set production by Jean Jarvis.

Who Do They Think They Are?