The longer we spend abroad, the more distant our lives become back home. International students struggle to re-create a home, or a feeling of home, yet knowing material attachments are futile considering our transient status in a foreign land.

International students who rent in foreign countries are often exploited by their landlords, who know that their temporary residency makes it difficult for them to contest unfairly withheld deposits and other conflicts. Hasty to return to their homelands, they are unable to defend themselves and end up on the losing end of housing disputes. 

“Rented” is a series that depicts the struggle of international students to reclaim borrowed space. Although the wigs obscure the subjects’ gazes and identities, a sense of hostility still permeates the veil, reflecting Asian stereotypes of being predisposed to sweep matters under the rug to avoid trouble.