Broken Psyche is a radical rethinking of photographic portraiture, seeking to transform the relationship between photographer, subject and viewer. At its core lies an inquiry into the psyche: the invisible essence of a person, rooted in mind and emotion, which photography has long attempted to grasp. Yet the faces we present—on the street or even within the intimacy of the studio—are often masks, constructed surfaces shaped by appearance and social expectation. The more closely one looks, the more resistant these masks become, revealing not an inner truth but further layers of presentation.

Aware of the camera’s inherent limitations, Lisa Saltzman uses Broken Psyche to push beyond surface representation. Rather than capturing a single, stable likeness, her images hold multiple aspects of the subject at once. Through techniques that fracture, blur or complicate the face, it becomes something in motion—unstable and unresolved. This visual instability operates as a metaphor for inner turbulence: emotional currents that remain largely unseen. As in her street photography, Saltzman also challenges the habitual ways we “read” faces. When recognition breaks down, viewers are forced to confront how much their understanding of others depends on convention and familiarity. The work does not claim to reveal the soul—an impossible task—but instead disrupts expectation, opening a space for greater awareness and a more attentive way of seeing.