This photograph was taken by Re Soupault (I apologize for the incorrect punctuation, but I do not know how to correctly do it) in 1939 in Tunis. Called Selbstportrat, it is a self-portrait of Soupault. I’ve always wanted to double expose a self-portrait of myself with something else, and that’s exactly what Soupault did. The 2nd exposure of the newspaper and the door give the photograph an eerie feeling, which I like because I enjoy photographs with an eerie feel. The camera is angled up at Soupault, which makes her look strong and powerful, especially when paired with her expression and her cigarette. I wish to portray myself as strong and badass as Soupault looks in this photograph, and hopefully will as I continue on my series.
This photograph is Gertrud Arndt’s Untitled (Masked Self-Portrait, Dessau). It was taken in 1930. The expression on Arndt’s face in this photograph is so ridiculous that it works, and I really enjoy that her face is partially covered by the beads. I like that Arndt was interested in transforming herself through her costumes and her facial expressions with her series of masked portraits because that is what I am doing with my final project. One day I hope to move on from the more serious facial expressions that I’ve been doing to less serious facial expressions like this one of Arndt’s. Also, I think that the different patterns going on in this photograph is really interesting.
![This photograph is [Frances Benjamin Johnston, full-length self-portrait dressed as a man with a moustache, posed with bicycle, facing left]. It was taken between 1880 and 1900. In this photograph, Johnston has dressed herself as a man, and although I am not dressing myself up as different men, this very closely relates to my final project. I think that it is so amazing that even in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s people were taking self-portraits, and Johnston’s are just great because they’re so sassy (this one dressed up as a man, and another holding a cigarette and a pint of beer). I think that the setting and props of this photograph is really cool because the large bike, door, and hanging object make Johnston look very tiny. This photograph not only makes me want a huge, old-fashioned bike, but also makes me want to experiment with maybe huge props.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2wlvqyLz41rnn4cgo1_500.jpg)
This photograph is [Frances Benjamin Johnston, full-length self-portrait dressed as a man with a moustache, posed with bicycle, facing left]. It was taken between 1880 and 1900. In this photograph, Johnston has dressed herself as a man, and although I am not dressing myself up as different men, this very closely relates to my final project. I think that it is so amazing that even in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s people were taking self-portraits, and Johnston’s are just great because they’re so sassy (this one dressed up as a man, and another holding a cigarette and a pint of beer). I think that the setting and props of this photograph is really cool because the large bike, door, and hanging object make Johnston look very tiny. This photograph not only makes me want a huge, old-fashioned bike, but also makes me want to experiment with maybe huge props.
This photograph is from my self-portrait series for my Photo I final project called Me, Myself, and Other Me. It is a four-week series (inspired by my discovery of Cindy Sherman’s Film Stills) in which I dress myself up as different characters that represent me in many different ways. I will finish the last characters this weekend, and shortly after I will be publishing the photographs. There will be more pictures and information to come, but for now here’s just one picture from the project that helped me to search myself and to understand myself a little better.
This is a self-portrait taken by Robert Mapplethorpe in 1980. Though I am not dressing myself up as a member of the opposite sex and Mapplethorpe did, his disguise still goes right along with my final project. Mapplethorpe used a simple black backdrop for this photograph, which I really admire and didn’t really think about using for my self-portrait final. I like the negative space that his face and the black backdrop create, and I really like the lighting on his face and his coat. The contrast is really nice, too, and it is believable that he is a woman, which I think is incredible. I really hope to take away some good costuming skills from this photograph.
This photograph is Andy Warhol’s Photo Booth Self-Portrait. It was taken in 1963, right at the beginning of Warhol’s experimentation with photography. What I really like about these photographs is the fact that they all very closely tie in with my final project. Warhol was trying to take on the persona of a movie star, and though I am not always taking on that persona in my photographs, I am still taking on different personas. I really like Warhol’s experimentation with expressions and gestures. Honestly, this series of photographs makes me want to have a photo booth set up in my house.
This photograph is a self-portrait of Diane Arbus, and it was taken in 1945. Though this photograph doesn’t exactly fit in with my final, I still wanted to blog it because of the expression on Arbus’s face and also the lighting. The expression that Arbus has on her face kind of matches some of the expressions in my final, which I think is pretty cool. Also, I really enjoy the lighting of this photograph because the way that half of Arbus’s face is lit up and the other half is darker. Another thing that I like about this photograph is that it is large format, which is something that I really would like to get into.
Study of Perspective (1995-2003) is a series of photographs by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. Each photograph shows the artist flipping his middle finger at many iconic landmarks and places across the world. His gesture confronts the viewers with a universal statement of political opposition.
(via omnashiplum)
This photograph is a self-portrait of Henri Cartier-Bresson. It was taken in Provence, France in 1999. What I really enjoy about this photograph is not only that it is a shadow self-portrait like Ansel Adams’s, but also the diagonal leading lines throughout the photograph. The last shadow of the tree sets a barrier between Henri Cartier-Bresson’s shadow and the rest of the photograph, and sets him in a box of sorts, which is nice because otherwise his shadow would’ve blended in with the tree trunks. Though this photograph is also not in the same style as my self-portraits for my final project, I still really enjoy the design aspects and the idea of using my shadow instead of my actual self.
This photograph is called Self Portrait in High Heels. It was taken by Helmut Newton. This photograph is related to my final project because Newton partially disguised himself and then took the picture. The leaves on the tree mirror the shadows on the ground, and from the leaves to Newton’s head to the shadows is a diagonal line that leads you through the photograph. I think it is kind of humorous that Newton’s legs look like that of a woman’s with the heels on, which makes me want to get better at disguising myself in my self-portraits.
