Self Portraits

Portrait 1, leaning on wall

Portrait 2, sitting on fence

Portrait 3, by the stream

Portrait 4, in the field

The inspiration for my self portraits was Hippolyte Bayard, and “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. For those of you who don’t know, Hippolyte Bayard was one of the inventors of photography and likely the inventor of the self portrait. He was not only a genius inventor, but his photography was beautiful, symbolic, and very artistic.

The first picture of me leaning against the wall is symbolic of the fact that I am pretty laid back and don’t take myself too seriously. The wall is to symbolize strength and independence. I consider myself very independent and self-reliant. However, this comes at a price in that I’m often reluctant to let people help me, and sometimes I create a wall around myself.

The first and second picture go together. The second picture is me sitting on the same wall from a different angle. This is symbolic of my inability to choose a side on most issues. I am proud of the fact that I’ve been very open minded and can see, and relate to, both sides of an issue. Unfortunately, this is another alienating feature of mine because so many people seem to always want to pick sides but I am never really able to side with either.

The third picture of me next to the stream is symbolic of my love of photography. I wanted to use water because it is often used in religion to symbolize renewal (baptism). The water was too cold for me to get in (considering I had another hour or two worth of pictures to take), so I decided to stand next to it. Getting into photography was my first real endevour into the arts. I was never good at drawing and my poetry is really just a blend of short-verse creative writing, so photography was a real breakthrough for me. It gave me a new lens for viewing life, and gave me a deeper appreciation for the beauty of nature and life in general.