A body in motion...
My self-portrait is an exploration of the body in space. In this way it seems to be less about me as a person (unless you consider my past years as a dancer and athlete), and more about the visual exploration of the body as tool of creation. I enjoyed playing with the background (as a kind of dramatic backdrop), lighting (cloudy vs sunny), colors and patterns of clothing, and the shapes different types of clothing made as it moved or was captured in the moment of movement.
The series of poses I chose are patched together into one long image that moves along a horizontal background. It has a beginning and end, much like a story. The poses themselves do not tell a chronological story (though they could potentially be creatively interpreted as one by the reader/viewer), but the figures express a lightness and feeling of freedom.
I chose to represent my portrait as a very small fold-out book. I liked the idea of the viewer looking at the figure moving through the landscape either one page at a time (to focus attention on the form the figure takes in that frame) or as a whole (in which the series of figures implies a timeline or series of dance steps or story). It just occurred to me that this is reminiscent of the different scales at which landscape architects work: anywhere from small scale to regional scale. I enjoy this freedom and challenge.
I am not fully satisfied with the quality of the final product; since I did not have access to a high quality camera (which meant I was not able to control the shutter speed), the quality of the images was not as controlled. The photos taken on cloudy days had poor color quality but showed excellent blurriness. The photos taken on sunny days were brighter but caught the figure in mid-air. These phenomena could be explored further with more time, thus I am viewing this project as a jumping-off point (no pun intended) for a more in-depth project later on when I have the time and resources needed to create the quality I am looking for in these images.
My hope is that the self-portrait shows my own enjoyment of movement and my interest in the body’s interaction with or through space.
-Adrienne