Note: This article was originally published on 29 June 2021 on a different platform.
Like many photographers, I find putting myself in front of the camera no easy task. Unlike a lot of my peers, however, I do make a point of jumping onto the other side of the lens on a regular basis.
Such an exercise always teaches me a new trick or three, whether it is about discovering a more intricate way to see and shape light or a new process on composing the image.
This daunting yet satisfying moment, this feeling of exclusivity between myself and the camera, with no other obligations but my own creative constraints, is a chance to reflect upon my evolving identity as a working photographer. I have come to relish this intimate glimpse of self-discovery, this subtle appreciation of the recent times spent and gone and the future ones coming.
As I invested a lot of time, over the past 15 months or so, to reflect on life, business objectives and personal interests, priorities have shifted, emergent skills have been further developed, the mundane has become less relevant and, inevitably, my work took on a new direction.
Although some of my past efforts in environmental portraiture, performance photography and film photography can still be seen on my website under the “Projects” category, my professional work now focuses exclusively on still life photography. My new self-portrait reflects this change of direction. The scene was set accordingly, with relevant props and my latest colour scheme of choice.
In addition to this self-portrait that showcases my environment as a still life photographer, I have put together three other images, also shot this month, and turned them into a quirky triptych that can be found at the bottom of my About/ Contact page. Because life is too serious to take self-portraiture too seriously.