Self Portraiture - Camera Always Points Both Ways
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008Every photograph we make is part of a learning process. We turn our lens on our respective worlds, on the people who inhabit it, on the new places we discover, and on the scenes we’ve created. We find truth and we create fiction with our cameras. It seems a natural thing to turn the camera around and examine ourselves, or even to recreate ourselves.
Why Self Portraiture?
The photographer’s presence is implied in every photograph taken. With self portraiture the implication is made overt.
If you have a camera, the first person available to photograph is most obviously yourself. Whether it is a narcissistic impulse, or a convenience, using the self as subject allows us the most freedom we can take with a model. We are completely aware of our own intentions. It also offers the most control we can exert over our own self-image.
Presenting ourselves photographically is an intimate act. It can be a call for attention, a flirtation, a flaunt, a gauntlet dropped, a confrontation. By creating our own image we can assert our identity on the viewer, create a new persona, indulge in our narcissism, or engage our audience in a more intimate manner … full article.
