I created Silly Face to subvert the pressure of emotional labor conditioned by the workplace and this type of performance modeled elsewhere in everyday life. Here I take surveillance in a literal photographic sense and subvert the power of the gaze by creating self-directed works. Thus the model is the photographer and only subject to their own demands. The images in the series are designed to poke fun at traditional modeling shoots and the performance of facial expressions within them by showing silly and often “unattractive” facial expressions on mock modeling images. In the process of making these images, I meditated on how work has conditioned my own appearance. Academia specifically has shaped the way I view my own presentation. How has the act of choosing what to wear to not appear too masculine or feminine to be taken seriously without intimidating people shaped me? What about the way I regulate my face, posture, and voice? How does this compare to service jobs I've had or even making money in clubs? How have all of these experiences led me to mimic this regulation, especially relating to gender in my social life?