I'm approaching this part of the project, my portraits confronting my disconnect from the camera, as many other artists (Jonathan Kelle, James Kuhn, Anna Gay, etc) have, taking a picture everyday. The hopes of this project is to make myself more comfortable in front of the camera, and confront the reasons why I'm currently not. I'm still working on the other project, but this is my current approach to the self portraits.
I'm not decided on horizontal or vertical yet, so I'm trying both for now.
2 comments:
Dear David,
Is there are rhyme or reason to the lighting/background you are choosing?
For example, Jonathan Keller's photos have a distinct--I shot this myself, arms held out, a flash, indoors, everyday kind of thing--which speaks of a kind of intimacy. (For some reason, the images I came across seems like he took these photos first thing in the morning?)
As you pursue your daily activity of photographing yourself, I would consider the "ritual" aspect of this. Is it with your morning coffee? Is it like a prayer or meditation? Does it go hand in hand with self-reflection? Or is it just mechanical?
By the way, your flexibility in approaching and re-thinking your ideas should be commended!
The images I posted are experimenting with different types of lighting. However, I think the last one, which shows to most detail and has no harsh contrast, is the most "honest," and therefore the most confrontational. Since I am confronting the camera, perhaps the most honest and confrontational lighting would be best.
I am taking the pictures at night, usually at the end of my day before I go to relax, go to the gym, whatever my nightly ritual is that day. I figure this way whatever has happened that day with reflect in my face. Has it been a long work day? A relaxing day? Am I smiling? Grimacing? Do I look tired. I think this way there will be a range to the images.
My question is this: Do I only take one picture, and regardless of how it looks, that is the picture for the day? Or do I take multiple pictures and then choose which picture to use? There are pros and cons to both (By taking multiple images am I truly being "honest" about the depiction? On the other hand, does the "honesty" really matter? If I take multiple pictures, isn't that just that many more times I am confronting this fear of the camera?)
I don't know if I am looking for an answer to this question, or maybe opinions on how both could influence the outcome.
Thanks for the advice!
Post a Comment