50. Visual Journal: Self Portraits

Deep meaning? Ego driven? Selfie+ ? Revealing?

I recently gathered 52 self-portraits taken over the past 17 years, then picked the 13 shown here. Do they reveal anything, or are they just glorified selfies? Do I have a camera in so many because I was saying something? Or will a photographic self-portrait usually have a camera? Well, Cindy Sherman’s pictures don’t.

I imagine that if I got an MFA, there would be an entire course on self-portraits.

Last week, when I began planning this post, I googled to see what I could find on the subject. Nothing compelling turned up.

Then tonight I googled “ego self portrait,” and bingo! A BBC documentary: Ego - The Strange and Wonderful World of Self Portraits. I’m still making my way through it, but the first few minutes had just what I was looking for.

“A self-portrait will always reveal a deeper truth — the truth of how the artist wanted to be seen and known to the world.”

Is that the case here? Am I obscured in so many for a reason? Do I not want to be seen by the world? Does it mean anything that they are similar to my urban abstracts? I think I need more time to figure that out, but for now, I will try to enjoy contemplating them.

Have you taken self-portraits? I’d love to do a follow-up post with others’ ideas and images. Reach out if you have images to share.