Six weeks ago a photographer friend of mine posted on facebook - "Who wants to do a 52 selfies (self portrait) project with me?" Photographers love any excuse to photograph but often we're not real rapt about being in front of the camera - or alternatively there's no one to take our photos! So I was ready to jump in with both feet. It seemed like a great idea to have some fun and stretch my creative legs to see what I could come up with each week.
We set up a group with 65 participants and so far we're on week 6 and the quality of work is astounding. There's images that make you burst out laughing and images that make you feel like crying. There is some collections that are running on a theme but basically my theme was no theme because part of my psyche seems to be that if there are too many rules my motivation goes, "Meh" and nothing happens. True story.
So far my 6 selfies have been all completely different. Week 1 was a photograph of me and Evie because at 7 weeks old she was still basically living in my arms. Actually at 13 weeks old she's still kind of living in my arms, but I digress. Week 2 was a simple front on black and white portrait. Week 3 was me in my newspaper garden (too darn cold for a real one!). Week 4 had me holding some helium balloons just prior to my second eldest daughter's 12th birthday party where the vast majority of those balloons ended in squeaky voices. Week 5 I became Little Red Riding Hood - purely so I had an excuse to wear the cape. And Week 6 I became a Stepford Wife because basically that is the complete opposite of me. I totally bought those cookies from the bakery and whacked them on a plate so I could look like I baked them because while I'm quite happy to scour eBay for the perfect 1950's dress for an image I draw the line at baking.
