Self Portrait
During one of my past Focused Lens Workshops, we all took some time out to create a self portrait. Our goal was to put something of ourselves into an artwork about ourselves.
It was a lot of fun. And we learnt a bit about ourselves and our photographic practice.
Most find this exercise rather confronting. Particularly finding a photograph of ourselves that we like.
There are the technical issues you may face. I just held my point and shoot up and took some, with it pointing back at myself. At other times I have used a tripod and a delay or a remote release. Wirelessly connecting a smart phone allows you to see yourself on your phone and control everything from the phone.
Smart phones can be a good option.
Well, that is this challenge. I will illustrate it with a few older ones too. You are welcome to add a few older self portraits of yourself, but you haven’t completed the exercise unless you create a photograph of yourself after reading these words and posting it.
Let’s have some fun, and show each other who we are talking to.
Comment about what each self portrait says about the photographer.
What do they tell you about the person who is taking the self portrait.
Am excited to see the results.
Len the thinker - Taken for this exercise
Happy Len, taken for this exercise
Self portrait with Linhof Technica 3 - Something for my website taken five or more years ago
Self portrait for TAFE while I was completing my Diploma in Digital Imaging, circa 2006 taken with large format camera on some film, printed in the darkroom. My knee is on the cable release.
Self portrait with pin hole camera and photographic paper for film. Circa 1985 during my first year at art school. The exposure was fifteen minutes, I kept checking my watch. The camera was an old box that held photographic paper, the lens was a sheet of aluminium cut from a coke can with a hole punched in with a needle. The camera sat on a bonnet of a car. Sticky tape held a shutter made of cardboard. This photograph was taken for my first year art school photography teacher Eardley Lancaster while I was doing my Bachelor of Arts (Photography major). My first formal study of photographic art.
