Although the man who posed for Haddou to create the original clay bust — later cast in gesso — was Dominican, the photographs were inspired by two Haitian watchmen who worked in the artist’s building during her time living in the Dominican Republic.

Their stories of hardship—rotating day and night between construction sites and guard shifts to support their families in Haiti—profoundly moved her.

The quiet tension between Dominicans and Haitians, in her view, reflected a universal friction: that between natives and immigrants—needed for cheap labor yet unwanted—endlessly replayed across borders.

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​All the sculptures from the different series below originate from the same mold; however, their expressions shift subtly with each change in light, revealing a spectrum of emotions.​