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Do You Make Self Portraits?
A Way Of Documenting One’s Life, A Way Of Remembering
Soon after I picked up the camera, nearly 50 years ago, I turned it on myself. I continue to do so from time to time. It feels important to me, it helps me remember, and mark the changes that occur over a lifetime.
I now look back on times that were important. I also look back on times that were difficult, and times that were just plain awkward. They are all part of a long life. The pictures remind me of just how long.
We take pictures of our children from the moment of birth. And for some time, every day afterward. We want to remember every moment of the miracle they represent.
Why would we not want to do the same with ourselves? All lives are important. Our own, as much as our children’s. Perhaps it has to do with the self-loathing that so often sets in after a certain age. After a certain amount of failure and disappointment.
My approach has been to record it all. The good, the sometimes bad, and at times, the downright embarrassing. I remain the same soul through it all. And I want to remember it, all of it.
The image above was made shortly after I returned to the desert of Arizona, after spending five years in the rain of Oregon. I was photographing exclusively with a 4x5…
