How it got started:
Self-portrait Tuesday (SPT) started a few months back when I posted a self-portrait on my personal/craft/art weblog. I wrote a little about why I take self-portraits and this seemed to spark something in some of my readers. A few of them started to post Self-portraits too ( bird in the hand, port2port, scrapalicious and Nikkishell were enthusiastic) So self-portrait Tuesday was started. After a few weeks it had started to become quite popular, so I put a list together for everyone to check out each other’s SPT’s. Soon a self-portrait Tuesday flickr group was created (by Joy at scrapalicious) and more people joined.

Some people started asking for themes, for ideas, for reasons and explanations. So recently I started a weblog for Self-portrait Tuesday. This site is a community hub, where I post a monthly challenge, ideas and how to’s for first timers, information and links to known and not so well known self-portrait artists. There is a blogroll for participants; people can send me their link via email to be added to the blogroll. I choose a few each week to post on the site, images that fit the theme, which are experimental or interesting or creative in some way.

What is the ultimate aim?
To create a community - an online community of people participating in a continuous artistic self-expressive art project

• To give a voice to those who want to speak
• To encourage self-analysis and self-expression and self-exploration in people who would normally not be able to or don’t have a venue or audience for such.
• To encourage people to challenge their personal boundaries
• To free up inhibitions and allow that inner hidden something to be occasionally seen.

Who am I do start something like this anyway?
I am a photographer and artist, I did Post graduate work at university in self-portraiture and co-ordinated a self-portrait community project and exhibition that involved women who would not ordinarily even think about taking a self-portrait. Giving them a voice and a space to express themselves was not only satisfying to me and to them but made for a really interesting viewing experience for the audience.

I am interested in self-portraiture not only as a way for artists to express themselves, but also as a venue for ordinary people to express their inner often hidden selves. I want to make it accessible and acceptable for anyone to become involved. I made it a weekly event to give people many chances to experiment and also to see what others are doing - to improve not only their photography skills but also their courage in challenging their own boundaries. I want people to not just do it once and feel satisfied with that, but to continue to experiment and see how it will change their view of themselves and maybe even change their lives a little.