self portrait with fynbos wreath

This was one of the three self portraits I shot one night in the studio when I invited a few friends for drinks and a creative studio session. The idea was to treat the shoot spontaneously and with an open mind to ideas.

My idea for this image was to create a wreath, which I did by hand, from stolen fynbos picked off Lions Head and connected over wire with florists tape. I used olive oil (I think) on my hands and arms before delicately applying gold leaf to myself with the help of one of the other girls. I bought the giant knickers ages ago at some super random shop at Access Park in Kenilworth for my collection. The pose was exactly what I had had in mind, don’t ask why, it was just one of those instinctive ideas.

I was going to crop the image to have a similar composition to many of the other self portraits in the series but I liked the tiny funny detail of my toes crossed over each other so I left it as a full length portrait.

A Self-portraiture Project:
Continued

I’ve continued shooting my self-portraiture project but let it evolve in terms of timing (so I no longer shoot it daily but rather when I have an idea I want to work with, etc).

Self portrait No.11 is a kind of sporty hero. I often end up spending the whole day in my gym gear just because I’m too lazy to go home and change. I asked Bryan to shoot these pics, resplendent with squeezey water bottle and fake exercisey-ness. I like the tone and colors, the lighting style has also become a favorite.

Portraits No. 12, 13 & 14 were shot on one evening in the studio with three friends. I invited them for wine and a shoot and then we went out for dinner. The results of the evening are fantastic (more on that later), I asked each individual to bring interesting items with them for using and the shoot was reasonably open ended with two lighting changes.

Here are screen shots from my working folder of the last three self-portraits in the order that they were shot: