Miru Kim

I just came across her work on a photography program on Ovation television. I find it interesting. Here is a link to her site.

SELF DEFINED: The Art of the Self Phttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifortrait

Working with Artists (Flash) Gallery has an exhibition called Self Defined: The Art of the Self-Portrait. This image is being shown in the gallery.

The show ends July 27th, 2008.

Heather Bennett

Heather Bennett is using herself as the model for fashion advertisements. Check out her website for more images and her artist statements.

Sarah Faust

At Sixty, Photographs of My Mother

Daughters look to their mothers as models for what it means to be a woman. My mother taught me that the expression of womanhood can be richly layered, complicated, and even contradictory. In these photographs I have tried to capture the essence of being a woman, and in particular, a woman of sixty. The act of photographing my mother as she is now is my response to her mortality, as well as my own.


http://www.edelmangallery.com/faust.htm

Tomoko Sawada, School Days

Ten Japanese high school class photographs, printed on thick card, are collected in this edition which extends on Sawada's exploration of costume and identity. Each photograph features the artist re-presenting herself as a multitude of different students (and one teacher for each class) in a comment on the power of educational institutions and the social pressures facing young Japanese women.

Leasha Overturf

http://www.edelmangallery.com/Overturf/overturf.htm

I came across Leasha's work when I was looking up something else.

I have been doing self-portraits for over 15 years. About 5 years ago I started having a different regard for my changing body. I was quickly approaching middle age as well as dealing with my feelings of my photographer husband photographing other women nude.

On top of these feelings, I also was dealing with great confusion over my younger sister having a bunch of plastic surgery done on a body I thought was perfectly beautiful.

I started documenting my body in a literal and stark way, just to watch it change. I needed to come to terms with the changes.

Then one day my photographer husband asked me to start posing for him in the role of different women for a project about himself that he was producing. Being a photographer myself, I wanted to participate in his project to help him but after a few sessions it brought up many emotions for me.

I have always dealt with a lack of confidence in myself and my body, and playing the role of different women kind of drove my lack of confidence to a new place. And, it actually made me questions all of my selves - the self-conscious self vs. the confident self. Occasionally putting on a wig let me be loose with all of my ideas and thoughts.

Was I myself "okay" as I was? Did I need to change my body? Why did my younger sister feel the need to change her body? Why are so many women not happy with themselves? Does my husband love me as I am? Who are these other women he is photographing? Am I happy with myself? And the list went on and on.

I realized that I no longer could only document my body in a stark and literal way, but also I needed to photograph my emotions, my relationship, and my many selves.

Sandy Stockhold

Homage to Frida Kahlo. http://www.sparkgallery.com/site/component/pgstr/Stockhold.html

Artist Statement

For the past several years I've been working on a visual autobiography titled “myselfportraits.” By creating staged photographic tableaux I've used myself as the canvas to examine aspects of aging, regret, politics, philosophy, fame and notoriety.

The structure of this series presents a continuing tension between my public, my private, and my artist persona. This project has been both challenging and empowering and has allowed me the “freedom” of self-examination in my art.

Dan Estabrook dvd at ICP

I came across this dvd of Dan's work in the ICP bookstore yesterday. Of course, I immediately bought it!

Dan doesn't talk about his work necessarily as self-portraits but he does often use himself in his work .

Dan is represented by Catherine Edelman
He is also in a show at Daniel Cooney in NYC. He has a flickr page and I found some of his work on this site

Tomoko Sawada at Zabriskie Gallery, NYC

After the Met, I went to the Zabriskie Gallery to check out Tomoko Sawada's show. I like the grids more than the individual large prints of twins. It is a smallish gallery and no one was there to greet me (not that they necessarily would greet me if they were there). So there wasn't an opportunity to get a press release and there isn't one listed on their site.

Jessica Somers

Another amazing artist who is working with self-portraiture and alternative photographic processes. I love her work as well.
Check out more of her images here.

Elizabeth Raymer Griffin

I met Elizabeth at the opening reception for the f295 conference. Her work is amazing. Here is a link to her website. She has agreed to be in the self-portraiture book.


The image here is a pinhole platinum print and is from an older series.

Wet Plate Collodion Self-Portrait

This is an image that I have always loved and decided to try it with the wet-plate collodion process. I have had some very positive responses to it.

Joyce Tenneson Quote

"I very strongly believe that if you go back to your roots, if you mine that inner territory, you can bring out something that is indelibly you and authentic - like your thumbprint. Its going to have your style because there is no one like you."

Joyce Tenneson has a new book coming out Joyce Tenneson: A Life in Photography: 1968-2008. Apparently it includes many of her self-portraits. I will see if we can get it for the library since she will be speaking at the Academy next semester.

Julie Heffernan

I came across Julie's work in an article in Modern Painter magazine. The quote below is from Little John Contemporary.

“Julie Heffernan is known for her lush and sensuous large-scale figurative (and still life) paintings that at first glance seem to have stepped out of either the Italian or Spanish Renaissance or 17th century Dutch genre still-life or grand manner landscape painting. However, Heffernan’s concerns are clearly of the late 20th Century as her symbolism references a combination of psychological issues surrounding feminism, gender issues, class structure and motherhood.

Heffernan strives to expand our notion of beauty and present one that permits women to see themselves as more complex, mutable and in control of their experience. Her work is rife with potent symbolic meanings; the womb/motherhood, infant/Jesus /religion, interior-exterior/human psychology-life.”

Amberlyn's St. Brigid's

I've asked if Amberlyn would be willing to contribute some of her self-portraits in my self-portraiture book. I love these. They are really creepy yet very intriguing. The eyes are so haunting. The crucifix looks as if it has an amputated limb.

Lynn Goldsmith Self Portraits: In The Looking Glass

Tea Cup Dream. A Self-Portrait by Lynn Goldsmith.

http://frankpicturesgallery.com/lynngoldsmith/

Nancy Spencer of Pinhole Resource

I came across some really beautiful self-portraits made with pinhole cameras with an older copy of the Pinhole Journal with this image (less the collaging) on the front. Which made me start to think about the possibility of a different sort of outline for the Self-portraiture class.

Billy Chasen Self-Portraits

Great find from Amberlyn. These are made out of acrylic paint. Very cool.

Looking Back, Pinhole Self-Portrait

This image will be in the Rayko Pinhole show this April. It was made with a Santa Barbara Pinhole Camera and expired 669 film.

Rebecca Rome Self-Portraits

Pinhole type 55 Self-Portraits by Rebecca Rome who will be featured at the Rayko Photo Center in an upcoming pinhole photography show.

http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2008/02/art-space-talk-rebecca-rome.html

Jessica Hosman

Jessica Hosman makes interesting self-portrait photos by double exposing the film.



"I begin by shooting a full roll of self-portraits on 35mm film in studio conditions, winding that same roll of film back into the camera, and going out of the studio to shoot a second layer of images on that same film. I do not keep track of the sequence or placement of any of the images on the roll of film. Afterwards, I develop the roll of film and begin the editorial process, deciding which images have “life” and which do not. I then print the chosen images on 16x20” warm tone paper. "

http://www.jessicahosman.com/

Mark Eshbaugh

This is interesting. Older work by this artist who recently published a book on alternative photographic processes.

Here is a link to his technical information.
http://www.markeshbaugh.com/tech.htm

Suzanne E. Szucs, Journal in Progress

I came across this artist's work at SPE as well. I picked up a postcard and could barely believe my eyes. I'm not sure if I was more excited or bummed. It is great to see the installation. It is so similar to what I had envisioned for my own daily self-portraits that I've been doing for years.

http://www.suzanneszucs.com/index.html

Ruth Adam's Self-Portraits

I think these images are interesting. I only discovered Ruth's work from going to a presentation at the SPE conference called unremarkable (350 daily self-portraits of Ruth's cancer treatment). Some images available on her website... www.ruthadamsphotography.com

Sophia Tolstoy's Self-Portraits

I just learned about this book and the self-portraits of Leo Tolstoy's wife, Sophia. There was a brief article in American Photo On Campus that I picked up at the SPE national conference in Denver and I am slowly sifting through the magazines and papers.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15244466

Unusual View

Looking down at my tiny little feet! I like the positive and negative space of this image. My little Pentax Optio M40 is a nice little fun camera!

I'm not sure of the date of this image.

Self-Portraits in Studio

I came across this digital image while looking for usable Virgin images. Sylvia & I met today in Redwood City and decided that I will focus on finishing up the Virgin Project (12 -16 images). I'm looking for images that are worthy of making Polaroid Transfers or Tintypes. My digital pix need a lot of organizing!

Polaroid 600 Self-Portrait, Feb 27th, 2008

Joan Jett haircut. This is in my darkroom with the 600 Polaroid camera & film.