Self-Portrait

While searching for inspiration for Exercise 2 – I’m not finding this course as easy to get into as DPP1 I came across the following link: Self-Portrait as Fantasy.

While it’s not about photography it is about portraiture so it seems relevant here, and has got me thinking about using myself as a subject.

By coincidence the BJP is also carrying an item on self portraiture in photography: The Self-Portrait in Contemporary Photography - British Journal of Photography.

To me self-portraits seem to lead to the heart of understanding what portraiture is about – whatever that is. I can understand that a photographer provided portrait can be considered to give some insight into the subject, but any reading of that insight must surely be coloured by the personal baggage of the photographer and the viewer – not to mention the need of the photographer to make money from print and repeat orders.

A self-portrait, on the other hand is not encumbered to the same degree by financial/commercial requirements, and any baggage carried by the photographer is absolutely relevant to the subject as they are the same – there is a feedback loop reinforcing the result.

Think I’m going to come back to this thought process – although what it has to do with capturing a series of portraits in different lighting conditions as required by Exercise 2 is hard to say. In any case, I’m going to be my own subject for that exercise.