Topical Thursday: 2009-05-17

Portrait Of Myself

This is what I do when I'm in Texas, apparently.

Self portrait with a lot of paint

Rob wanted to take part in this blog. Now he is a contributor, I tried to convince him to do a self-portrait, but he refused. I worked all morning painting a self-portrait, but nothing came out well. Photobooth is addictive, and so is the iphone camera with all of it's glorious, goofy applictions. It's extremely low quality spontaneous photography. Rob doesn't know that I am posting these, so if you see him, don't mention it. Here are some of my self-portraits, some of Rob's, some of us together, and a few self-portraits that we took for each other.

Summertime outside

lit with a lighter

Somewhere.

A bad day.

Travel.

Rob's grandpa's glasses.

By the beach.

Cigarettes and ice coffee in San Francisco.

In Seattle.

He didn't know he was in the picure.

A weird moment.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Rob doesn't like the quadcam as much as I do.

He took most of the fake polaroids.

Rob waking me up.

This is the first self-portrait taken with the iphone.

Also, I discovered the photos of this girl a while back. She has been taking self-portraits every day for the last two years. The photos explore her mental health and emotional well-being. It's heavy stuff.

The REAL me

Ha ha, I made this for a friend about a year ago.

Love, Olla

http://loveolla.wordpress.com

http://girlsguidetoburningman.wordpress.com

Self-portrait, smoking a cigarette, numbers 4 and 11

SELF PORTRAIT- SAPPHIRE CORDIAL

circa 2005

if i

or anybody don't
know where it her his

my next meal's coming from
i say to hell with that
that doesn't matter (and if

he she it or everybody gets a
bellyful without
lifting my finger i say to hell
with that i

say that doesn't matter) but
if somebody
or you are beautiful or
deep or generous what
i say is

whistle that
sing that yell that spell
that out big (bigger than cosmic
rays war earthquakes famine or the ex

prince of whoses diving into
a whatses to rescue miss nobody's
probably handbag) because i say that's not

swell (get me) babe not (understand me) lousy
kid that's something else my sweet (i feel that's

true)

ee cummings

Self Portrait - Michelle

no makeup, blotchy skin, just woke up, messy hair, checking craigslist for jobs. story of my life.

Self Portrait - Jessalyn

Former Self as Self

.

A few short notes on the Self and the portrayal of the Self:

The Self is the best testing ground of love: that by learning to more fully love my Self, I more fully learn to love the world outside the Self. That through my suffering I understand what kindnesses others require when they suffer. Through my joy I learn how to more fully celebrate and nourish these wild, beautiful spirits in my life I have been granted the pleasure and responsibility of loving.

The multiplicity of the Self, the reality of the Selves, is a daily obsession. My existence is paradoxical by nature. Wholeness and integration are elusive but crucial goals; to bring the thing and its opposites into a simultaneous manifestation, until the light I exhale is no longer red or blue but finally: violet.

My Self Is and my Selves Are.
The Self persists.

am i human

Self PortrAat

sb. self.

i've been feeling particularly low lately.

i found out last week that my dear friend julie, at 72 beautiful years, passed away. i'm having a hard time with it.

i've lost a lot of people in my 27 years...

but for some reason i'm really struggling with this.

she was so lovely. generous. kind. wise.

i have a feeling she will be the subject of a post at some point.

this morning- i absolutely could not get out of bed. so i took my self portrait in bed...alongside my first cup of coffee. i better snap out of this soon...