You are standing in a beautiful spot and who can resist grabbing the phone and taking a selfie? Apparently millions are uploaded everyday. Wikipedia says “A selfie is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a hand-held digital camera or camera phone. Selfies are often shared on social networking services such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. They are usually flattering and made to appear casual. Most selfies are taken with a camera held at arm’s length or pointed at a mirror, rather than by using a self-timer.”

On the other hand, artists have been working for centuries on creating self-portraits: to show their skills, give themselves a challenge, or explore revealing elements of their personality.  It is usually a complex work, and most art school makes assignment out of it. As a model you are always available and can direct yourself to get exactly what you desire.

In case of photographer it can involve prior sketching, hours of preparation, self-timer or trigger. If studio lamps are involved, then the set up get even more tricky with the trigger.

More than one you will walk to the back of the camera to find your body cut or nothing in focus. If you dared trying to move, you are sometimes lucky to even be in the frame!

more images on my website – click here

I usually like the images I get at the end when I am about to give up. If an emotion comes immediately to mind with the image, then I got what I wanted. It can feel a bit intimidating as it revealing and sometimes raw but it means sharing the performance! I feel it is a unique opportunity to be at the same time an art director, stylist, sitter and photographer.

I just saw that The National Geographic dedicated a whole assignment to it, so have a look at the stunning results: click here