My documentary-style photographs emerge from observing and collaborating with individuals who appear isolated. Fueled by a preoccupation with physical and emotional distance, my work explores subjects longing for connection. Through these images, I imagine a racially, economically, and socially diverse photographic world where people seek care and extend it to others.

Balikbayan is a series of photographs taken across the globe. In Tagalog, the native language of the Philippines, where my mother was born and raised, balikbayan refers to a Filipino returning to their homeland. These images are made in places and with people where I feel at home.

My current work is guided by a central question: Can a landscape be racialized? Or, more broadly, can a photograph itself be racialized? As a straight, Asian-American male artist, I engage with questions of race and gender, considering how an artist’s identity is reflected in their images. My photographs often depict Asian female bodies in urban and domestic settings, where subjects appear alone—sometimes lonely—yet frequently engaged in acts of care and support. Through this work, I celebrate what it means to be Asian in the world today.

• Paolo Morales