The project takes its title from the concept of the Panopticon, developed by the French philosopher Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punish. For Foucault, the Panopticon transcended its architectural origins to become a metaphor for modern systems of surveillance, discipline, and social control—structures in which the possibility of constant observation shapes human behavior. This body of work reflects on the psychological legacy of institutionalization. Living within institutional systems often creates a persistent awareness of being watched, judged, and expected to conform to predetermined patterns of behavior. Even after leaving these spaces, that invisible gaze can remain. The photographs depict abandoned institutions as visual metaphors for those who have been forgotten or marginalized by the very systems once meant to care for them. Empty corridors, decaying rooms, and silent architecture become witnesses to absence rather than presence, inviting the viewer to consider the fragile relationship between power, memory, and human dignity. Rather than documenting abandoned buildings, Panopticon explores the invisible traces left by institutional control and asks how surveillance continues to shape identity long after the walls themselves have fallen silent.
