Cabin Fever

This week's chapter focused on the realm of self-portraiture. It really got me thinking about the importance of the process behind the photograph. To what extent is a "staged" photograph different than a "non-staged" one? It would stand to reason that most of all photography that could be classified as self portraiture would be staged. The photographer is not observing an unfolding event and capturing the moment; they are posing for the camera. They choose what to reveal, and what to conceal. It could be seen as the antithesis of something like street photography, where capturing candid photographs of unsuspecting subjects is prized. However, the concept of this so called "staging" is not black and white. Say a photographer, while walking down the street, lifts their camera to catch their own shadow mid-stride. Is this a staged photograph? Perhaps some thought was put into their step, or an arm extended in exaggerated motion. Even so, I would contend that this sort of photograph has more in common with a candid snapshot than a staged "self-portrait". Self portraits, and all photographs for that matter, lie on a continuum from completely constructed scenes, to scenes of near unaltered reality. This is of course referring to the real scene in front of the photographer's eyes when they actuate the shutter, and ignores such artistic choices as camera, film, post-processing, etc. which all fundamentally alter the "reality" of a photograph. This revealing and concealing, and the awareness with which said revealing is done, is the essence of self portraiture: "The dual character of auto-representation... encourages us to look more carefully at photographs whose candor has been more or less assumed...".

The general theme of my project is the expression of the sort of "cabin fever" and isolation that many of us are feeling right now. The photographs range from completely candid to carefully composed. Those that could be considered self portraits are all done with a heavy dose of concealing: the most you are able to see of my body is a shadow or a hand. The photographs that do not include my own body, in the way of Andre Kertesz, always include an element of myself in them nevertheless.

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/183257849@N08/albums/72157714226695258