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.