Haley Morris-Cafiero -- a photographer and associate professor in the Memphis College of Art -- developed the idea for any photo series called "Wait Watchers" while shooting a self-portrait in Times Square in 2010. At that time, she was Slimming Factor working on an accumulation of pictures of herself in places where she felt particularly self-conscious about her weight, like restaurants and pools. (Morris-Cafiero says she has struggled with her weight since she was identified as having hypothyroidism attending college.) When reviewing images she took on the Times Square bleachers, she noticed that her camera had caught a guy standing behind her, sneering. "Even though he was being photographed, he was taking a look at me," Morris-Cafiero told the Cut. "It wasn't only a quick little glance -- I've several photographs of it. He was doing the work for a while."

For now, Morris-Cafiero always assumed it might be impossible to capture strangers' reactions to her body on film; now, she sets to get it done purposefully. With the aid of a helper or tripod, she photographs herself in highly trafficked areas -- midtown Ny, or La Rambla in Barcelona. She shoots for about five minutes ("I don't want to become a spectacle," she explains) and then, later, reviews the images, selecting moments where the people around her are observing her body and, often, visually reacting to her appearance. "Wait Watchers" includes images of NYPD officers mocking her as she talks on the phone on the sidewalk, groups of teenagers smirking, and tourists gawking as she eats gelato.

The regularity with which Morris-Cafiero succeeds at documenting passersby's visible disdain on her body seems pretty depressing, yet she says she finds it empowering to turn the camera back on her viewers. Last year, "Wait Watchers" went viral, and the reactions inspired Morris-Cafiero to begin a new series, tentatively titled "Self Improvement." "I got a lot of comments that were like, 'You need to slim down and get a makeover,'" she explains. On her new series, she photographed herself doing exactly that -- exercising, searching for clothes, fitting makeup -- along with the reactions her appearance and behavior elicit from strangers. Now through December 5, she's raising cash on Kickstarter to fund the publication of a book of her photos.

The Cut spoken with Morris-Cafiero about her new series, the reactions she's gotten to her work over the years, and also the kinds of of judgments people make about her based on her appearance.

How can you decide where you can shoot?
It is rarely planned. Mostly they're just taken as I'm walking to a destination. Many of the foreign ones are taken when I'm on class trips during the summer. Like, you're travelling toand Super Slim Pomegranate you simply feel it. In Barcelona, I noticed a lot of people taking a look at me, and that i saw somebody inside a reflection making hand gestures about my weight. Sometimes I'll just set a camera on the stool, or ask a student going with me to take some shots. The camera isn't hidden, but whether others view it isn't in my control.