Friday, January 21, 2011

Image

I'm learning a lot in the self portraiture class I'm taking, most of which I can't even put into words yet. But on the very simplest level, in only five days, something fundamental has shifted in the way I think about who I am physically in the world. It turns out, once you have even a small handful of pictures you really, really love, all the terrible pictures in the world are totally inconsequential (except possibly for their amusement value, which you can finally appreciate once you feel like they might not actually represent some concrete version of reality).

There's a lot of more important stuff turning up too--about the ways self-image plays into the possibilities we imagine for ourselves, and how the one-dimensional images of beauty we're fed might be holding us all back more than we know. In ways that are the furthest thing from shallow or self-indulgent: Like, the ways that limiting our images of what constitutes physical beauty might limit our imaginations in general. But as I said, I'm not sure I'm ready to tackle writing or talking about those deeper levels yet, so I trust you'll understand if all of that is somewhat incoherent.

Anyway, it's also incredibly inspiring to see the self-portraits of a large group of people, every one of whom is gorgeous. It's inspiring to see all the different ways that people are gorgeous. Seriously, if you hate every picture you have of yourself, I can't recommend highly enough that you take this class at some point. Really. Do the work--which is actually heavy-duty play--and it will change your ideas about what you look like. Quickly.

The biggest technical points I've realized this week are actually stupidly obvious: The more pictures you take (and this week, I've taken literally hundreds), and the faster you take them, and the less you think about them, the greater the chance that at least a few of them will be entirely kick-ass.









10 comments:

  1. Wow. I can't wait to read or talk more about this as you keep processing and articulating. The photos you shared are gorgeous (like you). One of my challenges in this realm is how to find the middle ground between self-consciousness & not engaging with me physical appearance at all (ie hair un-brushed, etc.) I can tell how much cool stuff this class is stirring up!

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  2. Yes, really interesting stuff. I have huge issues around worrying about what people think of me, and this ties up with ideas about self-image projected by the media, and society in general. So I have days when I can sail out barefaced and uncaring, but, more often than not, the make-up goes on before I leave the house... and the thicker it is, the worse I'm feeling.
    Your pictures are gorgeous Amy, and I look forward to reading your insights x

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  3. I like what you're learning. Do we assimilate from our family and also from our culture what is "acceptable" beauty? Now that I'm "older" there is a certain relaxing of my attitude. Your self-portraits are amazing because they show a bit of your personality - I just love the last!

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  4. could you be any more beautiful? xox

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  5. Seriously kickass.

    Thanks for sharing your journey. I'm curious to hear your thoughts as the process unfolds...

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  6. These are lovely! The first and last photos are my favourite. I'm a teensy bit jealous of such a fabulous class. Can't wait to hear more about it!

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  7. Here here! Off to have a read through your blog!

    Tracy x

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  8. bloomin' gorgeous!(of course!)
    x

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  9. Oh, I can't agree more with you---especially your point about the more photos you take, the more kick-ass photos you come up with. I think often people get discouraged about every making process (writing, art, photography) because they look and see these collections of amazing work by established artist and they think: I can't make something that good. What they don't realize is that the small collection of excellence that everyone sees is a small small part of the hundreds or thousands of works that person made---most of them not that inspiring, but every piece completely necessary to get them to the brilliant ones.

    This is my very lengthy way of saying, it's so true: the more pictures you snap, the more good pictures you get. Trial and error (and just plain putting in the time so you can get past all of the boring shots) is a beautiful thing. And of course, your photos are so beautiful---the last one especially knocks my socks off---the colors and the emotion in that picture makes me stop in my tracks.

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  10. Beautifully said. This sounds like an amazing course. Its amazing how large a chasm can exist between the way we see ourselves and the way that others see us. Beautiful photographs, thank you for sharing!

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