Michelle lives in California but lived in NYC prior to that. She’s an artist and graphic designer. Her mixed media images of women are lovely and inspiring. She started blogging in March this year. Her first foray into posting self-portraits was in April. It was for the April Fool theme.
Why am I an April Fool you ask? Because for a split second I thought I could get a little love from the meanest cat in the world! See him turning away!! He only has eyes for one person, and that would be my husband. He simply tolerates me! I live in his world.
One of the reasons she participates in Self Portrait Challenge is because it reminds her of an earlier time in her life when she had similair assignments for school:
I like the nostalgic feeling I get participating in each weeks SPT. My first semester in art school I was in a class called Visual Literacy. Every week we would have an assignment to Graphically represent ideas and images, etc. It was a real challenge to be original, and not always go for the obvious solution, to really push myself. Hey, I was barely 21, alone in NYC for the first time. I had bigger fish to fry! Now, I see the value in the lessons, and look forward to the weekly challenge of SPT. And the best part is that no one is grading me ;)
This is a photo of me with my friend Lanas neighbor Chas. I never knew my head could be quite this square!
On days when my brain is over loading, and I need a few minutes to gather my thoughts, I will go and lie down next to Charlie.
I like to poke fun of him on my blog, with his funny bath bomb mishaps and the whole pond on top of the car schpiel , but really he is a good guy! Obviously he keeps me laughing! And if it weren’t for him, I would never have had the opportunity to pursue being an artist.
Nikki deleted her old blog and started fresh in May this year with Shake Your Booty Now. Naturally, the time I spent at her blog the almost-epynonymous song hustled through my brain. In June she added her first self-portrait to our pop art challenges.
This is what she said:
I am new at this so please don’t judge.
Nothing else. So then why does she do what she and we do? She loves photography so posing herself seems like a natural thing. Check out some of the macro shots she takes of nature’s bounty and posts to her blog or her flickr account.
What else? She loves yoga, shops too much, has an eye for detail (the aforementioned macro shots), doesn’t know how to play poker, usually tips 20%, spends a lot of time on the water with her two boys and husband, and ALREADY is the artist she dreams of becoming.
This is my first born. Of course I have a special relationship with him, he is my son…Nicolas is the beginning of our successes. I look at him and see the hard work we all put into this life and I am thankful.
I have been on top of my game lately. I feel better than I have in a long time. I have been able to attend Yoga several nights a week, attend soccer games, make homemade meals and take the kids on adventures. Right now the 90 degree weather has me dragging.
I love them both. They bring us so much joy (well, always the kids) and dog hair.
When I first learned that Jamie is a motivational coach those skits on Saturday Night Live featuring Chris Farley came to mind. Remember? He tries to get kids to straighten up by telling them how he lives in his van down by the river.
Only, she’s not that kind of coach. She’s personally and professionally successful and lives in one of the most awesome cities in the world, Toronto. Besides all that she has a sweet husband, wonderful friends and family, and pets, too. Also, she’s a Sagittarius. Here’s what she says about her life’s calling:
As a coach, I work with creative people who are chosing a unique path, one where the signposts have not been laid out as clearly as if they planned to be accountants or teachers. I help them design a life that supports their unique self and their creative endeavours. I am committed to doing the same for myself.
And one of the inspiration words was “packaging.” When I started my coaching practice, I thought a lot about how I would package what I had to offer. I considered colours, images, words, phrases. I asked everyone I knew for feedback. I tried to determine who my ideal client was. I brushed up on marketing and communications. And as a person in a service-profession, I knew that my packaging had to really say something about me.
Looking back on that time is also a reminder to me that I love having wacky memories, having done things that are perhaps a little bit odd or different. And I guess that’s why I coach people who choose a different path, creative people who are trying to build a life around their own distinct personality that honours their heart and spirit. I am deeply committed that path.
She’s Papa Smurf in this shot, btw
Her first foray into Self-Portraits was in January. It’s probably all part of her Year of Magic:
I’ve put the emphasis on magic this year by dubbing 2006 the Year of Magic. I’d like to share with you how it unfolds.
Why participate? Ego? Self-reflection? Self-acceptance? How about simply to remind myself to take more pics of me? In so many ways photos create our history, reinforcing particular memories and moments - and I don’t want to be left out of my own story! Since owning my digital camera, I have about a gazillion pictures of my cats, a bazillion of my husband, our house, special events, my neighbourhood, flowers, the garden, etc., etc., etc. and well, um, not too many of me. I realize that growing up, family photos are like that too, but they are missing my Mom. She’s the loving eye watching us all and capturing our special moments and memories on film.
….So, what I love about Self-Portrait Tuesday is the invitation to every week take a look at myself, take a pic and mark this moment in my life, this look on my face, this haircut, even this wrinkle, and know that there I am, making an appearance in my own history.
This is me at work. Notice that I am not in an office. This was the most awesome day. On a day that I work at my “day job,” I had a telephone meeting booked with an organization that I will be doing some coaching for. So I took myself out to a closeby park area. At 10:00 in the morning, it was almost deserted. There were beautiful gardens all around, and the weather was extraordinary. I couldn’t stop smiling. I thought, yes, these are what my days are like when I’m my own boss! I love it.
Metaphorical Magpie came to Self Protrait Challenge by way of Self Portrait Tuesday. She started playing with taking self portraits in January 2006. By day she’s a photo editor, but her interests don’t stop there. She loves books, and her finace, learning to sew, and planning for her upcoming nuptials.
But you want more than that, right, in her own words?
I discovered Little Birds in the last few months and have been marveling at her world full of her childrens drawings, crafts and thrift shopping. Secret sounding associations to groups like Tie One On and Self Portrait Tuesdays intrigued me. Today, the first Tuesday of a new year, I found myself led into Self Portrait Tuesdays or SPT. I spontaneously decided to join their Flickr group and start posting weekly self portraits to my blog.
Self portraiture is one of my secret vices. I am convinced I am highly unphotogenic unless I am manning the camera. I often assert that as a professional photo editor, I know better than most if the camera is unkind to someone. Yet, if I am in control, I am often pleased with the results. I’m looking forward to being challenged by this group to think about my identity in new ways and to use my new Canon d20 that I am still getting acquainted with. The theme for January is Personal History.
The first thing I remember becoming passionate about in my life is books. I learned to read with ease and quickly surpassed my schoolmates. In the first grade, I found I could read the same passage at least three times over before the others finished for the first time. Reading isn’t about speed, of course, but when you have a voracious appetite it certainly helps.
Since I don’t like being photographed, these portraits make me all itchy and sweaty. The photo above is obviously an outtake from the 2005 pass.
It seems that I have ink in my veins. It doesn’t matter much what medium I use. Words, photos, video. Telling stories is the fundamental thing. When you can tell the truth about a person or a topic in a way that is humanizing and dignified, you’ve done a good job. When that story moves people to action to right a wrong, lend a hand, make a difference, you’ve done a great job.
This picture makes me happy.Look at me! I wish I remembered the happy times more vividly than the crummy ones. This photo jogs tiny happy memories. Like standing on the radiator under the window in the background, pretending it was a balcony and I was Juliet calling out for Romeo, played by my cousin, Larry. The living room furniture was orange velvet. The tables were dark wood and ornately carved. My father called it “Spanish bordello” style.
What I DO know is that I am crazy in love with this man. And he loves me right back. What more do you need to know?
Sari lives in Finland and works in an office. Sometimes she sneaks photos while at work and tells her colleagues that she is pretending to do something important with her shots of paper clips and magnets.
She has a son and husband. Her photos are luminous and provocative. But, she doesn’t reveal much about her motivation: Why she does self-portrait challenge.
I need my space, I need invisible walls around - just for a moment.
Gorgeous Gay lives with a guy and two dogs. Several grandchildren visit. She loves to garden and knit and take photos. Welfare case worker by day and free spirit motocyclist by night. She lives the best of both worlds. She knits, too. Did mention how she knits?
but after my last spc i was reminded of the grateful dead concerts i have attended in my days. i remembered the dancing deadheads and i wondered if i could capture that phenomenon in a self portrait. so i proceeded to try and as my best and favorite pictures happen, it happened on one try which is a good thing because let me say this i didn’t have too many more tries in me.
the whole concept of a photo diary is kind of interesting and for a
lot of different reasons, which will become clear as this goes along. when i discovered the self portrait tuesday web site i was disappointed that they could not take anymore members…for now… but still i wanted to experiment with the idea and so i shall. in february the members posted a self portrait every tuesday on their respective blogs, the all of me challenge. every picture tells a story and there’s a story behind every picture. this month the plan is to post a picture every day in march, as a way to document time. check out self portrait tuesday for all the particulars. i got a late start but started never the less. i decided to do portraits of my rituals, probably morning rituals…
i have been practicing the self portraits in private…until i can officially join, and love them because i’m getting to know my face and i’m seeing the parts of things now not just the whole and i’m hoping to learn more about myself and about the things i look at. i am technolgically very challenged, i cannot even cut and paste, i can cut and paste my ass off in the real world but have to date been unable to do so in the world wide web. so i give you my favorite time of the year…the dogwood days of spring…
i spent the last week end of may sweaty, dirty, exhausted and HOT from gardening, grass cutting, tearing out carpet and car washing and june is for pop art so…i bring you my memorial day…fudge pops and ponytails (with a little extra color for POP!)
We later found out that it was dead so I was brave enough then to take a pic of it, although not brave enough still for a macro shot—I was scared it would jump out at me. I have no idea what kind of snake it is.
Super mom of three, she makes marvelous clafoutis, bodacious beignets, reads Cervantes, and writes some entires en francais, oui madam!
And gives Scarlett Johnassen serious competition as Girl With a Pearl Earring.
Mom on a wire takes self portraits because this gives me an opportunity to slow down and focus on myself for a moment. I get to think about who I am deep down, under this mantle of motherhood. I discover more about myself with each challenge, and it’s been a very useful and thought-provoking exercise for me.
This is probably my favorite self portrait I’ve done, because I think it really captures how I see myself. Mysterious, but not in a dark way. Soft around the edges.
She’s Mom on a wire: Two daughers, Mormon, loves the smell of vanilla and loves watermelon, but together? Also is a freckled reader. She started with Self Portrait Tuesday in December 2005, reflective srufaces.
Here she watches a video her mom took of their family when she was five:
I spend the majority of the time trying to get people’s attention, sticking my face in front of the camera and once swearing loudly from the corner with the Barbies.
Have you ever loved something so much that it became essential to your everyday exisistence? That describes Lori’s relationship with her camera. She carries it everwhere she goes. Caged Pixels showcases her fabulous eye and skill at capturing the right shot at the right moment.
As for me, I carry my camera everywhere and take all kinds of photos. Lots of animals, people, anything I find interesting. I love photography. :)
She’s a woman of few words, lots of smiles, and lots of love–which she shares with humans and animals both!
And, she’s not afraid to show her devlish side or her talents with photoshop. Looking great while sporting horns is…. almost impossible, yet Lori carries it.
Whether she feels like a pig on a spit or not, Steph captures the moments spent mothering her sons and performing mundane chores with careful eye and rare perspective.
But why self-portraits? She never comes out with it, but leaves clues along the way that a circumspect person can read.
In reference to her online activities she wrote:
a fun place to hang up ideas and document the time hang up ideas and document the time.
Then there’s this:
As with many milestones, we are often too caught-up in the moment of achievement to capture it on film, but when they are this impressive, such special advances are etched in our brain forever.
There’s a a whole year of self-portraits at Steph’s. Looking at them all as a body of work reveals her journey from dental student to mother to artist; she explores encaustic painting. And she features a lovely Georgia O’Keeffe quotation in her first blog entry:
I believe it was June before I needed blue. -Georgia O’Keeffe
I’m unlearning, rewiring my brain.
But, for someone who wears as diverse hats as she: Mother, knitter, sewer & crafter, yoga practitioner, jogger, sleeper, nail biter, equestrian, battler of Texas’s bizarre bug problem; where are the hat photos? A new challenge for Steph: Show us your hats.
Less than a minute after this photo was taken, I was in cobra pose when Chas climbed onto my back, sunk his fingers into my nose, pulled my head back and really pissed me off. I clutched my nose, seeing stars, and had to run into the kitchen so the blood percolating from my nose wouldn’t drip onto the Bella rug.
Perhaps my perspective is just as distorted as the self portrait; in the act of mothering my mind is sometimes so absorbed in the middle of every minute that I lose point of reference, and my closest point of navigation is my limbic tunnel, that impulsive, instinctive maze of motherhood.
