{"id":39113,"date":"2017-02-16T20:09:53","date_gmt":"2017-02-17T04:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?page_id=39113"},"modified":"2017-02-16T20:19:52","modified_gmt":"2017-02-17T04:19:52","slug":"self-portraits","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/self-portraits\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Photograph Self-Portraits of Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"eric
Dalat, 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you’re lacking inspiration to shoot others– shoot yourself.<\/p>\n

1. Shoot yourself:<\/h2>\n

To start off, you are the best person to photograph. You give yourself 100% consent. You won’t punch yourself in the face, and you won’t become upset.<\/p>\n

To be comfortable photographing yourself is one of the most important steps to building your personal confidence as a photographer.<\/p>\n

I’ve been making a lot of photos of Cindy (#cindyproject<\/a>) but sometimes she gets annoyed, or she isn’t by my side.<\/p>\n

In these situations, I shoot myself. To me, I am the best subject– because I can document my life, and one day, my death:<\/p>\n

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\"eric<\/p>\n

\"eric
Hanoi, 2017 #cindyproject<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. Have your loved ones photograph you<\/h2>\n

Another tip: have your loved ones photograph you, like these photos Cindy made of me:<\/p>\n

\"eric
Hanoi, 2017 (portrait by Cindy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"eric
Portrait by Cindy Nguyen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"eric
Portrait by Cindy Nguyen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The good thing about having your loved ones photograph you is that you empower them. Not only that, but you get a unique perspective and view.<\/p>\n

You also make the portrait-making session more collaborative<\/em>. And you learn how it feels to be on the other side of the lens.<\/p>\n

3. Make artistic self-portraits<\/h2>\n

Regardless of how boring of a place you live in, you can always make self-portraits of yourself. Don’t worry that you will be seen as vain or self-centered– great photographers like Vivian Maier<\/a> and Lee Friedlander<\/a> have made beautiful self-portraits of themselves. The secret is to make an ‘artistic’ self-portrait.<\/p>\n

Shoot your shadow. Shoot your reflection. Turn the camera around and point it straight at you. Look at the background, the light, and reflect on your inner-emotional state:<\/p>\n

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\"eric<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n
\"eric
Photo by Cindy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Photography is about documenting yourself, how you see the world, and the inner-state of your mind. Photography isn’t about making images. It is about making sense of the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Learn more: Personal Photography ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’re lacking inspiration to shoot others– shoot yourself. 1. Shoot yourself: To start off, you are the best person to photograph. You give yourself 100% consent. You won’t punch yourself in the face, and you won’t become upset. To be comfortable photographing yourself is one of the most important steps to building your personal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38119,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-39113","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}