Abstract Self-Portrait - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

10/03/2011 10:50:10 AM · #1

A self-portrait should be recognizable as a self-portrait but have a strong abstract quality created by camera angle/settings, lighting, and/or PP.

The recent Abstract challenge was so much fun to participate in & vote on (at least, for me). Wish we could have one every month.

herfotoman

Canon EOS-7D Mark II

10/03/2011 11:24:47 AM · #2

Way ahead of you - I submitted 2 "abstracts" for "Male Portrait" and "You + 1" already. Guess that's why it didn't get ribbonised. Hehe. So bring it on, I'm the local expert now.

Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 OIS

10/03/2011 11:38:28 AM · #3

I just googled 'abstract self portrait photography' for images. Wow!
This one on Flickr is kind of interesting.

Checked out your "Male Portrait" entry & I don't know how to recognize this as a self-portrait. Help!

Haha! looked again. I thought it was sequins. I found the faces. Not anything I would've thought of by myself for sure, so thanks for nudging my imagination in a new direction. "Like"!

Message edited by author 2011-10-03 11:47:43.

mariuca

Fujifilm X-T30

10/03/2011 12:29:36 PM · #4

Self portrait is mighty difficult for me. In all fairness, we do not know what we look like. We have never seen ourselves. We are used to our look by seeing the reversed image in the mirror or photographs. And we almost always are struck by how asymmetrical we look. By touch we get probably a better knowledge of some aspects of our faces. Probably a movie is a better way of getting to know our faces or backs with its specific limitations.
We certainly know our hands and feet much better. And these will be a better subject for a self portrait.

As a side comment, Hemingway used to write at a small desk in front of a mirror. Vanity, all is vanity ...
A lot of great people in the history posed for a photo with one beautiful (albeit never used to hard work) hand to their temple in a meditative wise posture.

blindjustice

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

10/03/2011 01:15:17 PM · #5

Originally posted by mariuca:

Too damn deep! wonderful things to think about. The inner narcissistic tendencies make us all love ourselves most when we find the right mirror.
I love the abstract self-portrait or abstract portrait thought, but how about a small tweak.
Challenge: Narcissism- take a self portrait of yourself in a mirror.

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

10/03/2011 01:20:01 PM · #6

Inquiring minds want to know--where do we get these mirrors? you know, The Right Mirror! I need one! or more!

posthumous

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

10/03/2011 01:47:11 PM · #7

lovely idea. a self-portrait of our abstract qualities.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

10/03/2011 01:47:26 PM · #8

Is this the place for my annual encore presentation of...

:-) R

BrennanOB

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

10/03/2011 01:53:41 PM · #9

I would like this challenge as long as we barred actual images of our faces in our self portrait, a la Bear. We have had so many self portraits lately that it seems like the camera had been facing the wrong way about half the time. Lets keep our over exposed mugs out of the frame, at least until WPL is over and I can skip the challenge without feeling guilty.

PS totally unrelated but on the point about typing in front of a mirror, I have a mirror behind my desk and everyone else should too. It isn't about vanity, my mirror is angled to give me a view out the window. What it is good for, is reducing eye strain. Spending too long in one focal distance is tough on the eyes. By glancing up into the mirror, just above the monitor, my eyes focus on the tree in the backyard, at maximum focal distance, running through their full focal range. It is sort of like getting up from your chair and stretching every few moments. Calisthenics for the eyes.

Message edited by author 2011-10-03 14:00:57.

blindjustice

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

10/03/2011 02:09:20 PM · #10

Originally posted by pixelpig:

Inquiring minds want to know--where do we get these mirrors? you know, The Right Mirror! I need one! or more!

I mean the one that makes you feel thinner, or taller, or is more flattering to the fact or shows enough coverage to flatter the clothes. It could be your car mirror, people- when they find it, it tells you, you look perfect. Some stuck up people find it too much, some of those with low self-esteem don't find it enough or ever find it. Its not one mirror, perhaps its an angle of reflection.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

10/03/2011 02:09:49 PM · #11

Originally posted by BrennanOB:

PS totally unrelated but on the point about typing in front of a mirror, I have a mirror behind my desk and everyone else should too. It isn't about vanity, my mirror is angled to give me a view out the window. What it is good for, is reducing eye strain. Spending too long in one focal distance is tough on the eyes. By glancing up into the mirror, just above the monitor, my eyes focus on the tree in the backyard, at maximum focal distance, running through their full focal range. It is sort of like getting up from your chair and stretching every few moments. Calisthenics for the eyes.

I'm set up with my left shoulder near the long wall of our living space and the windows stretching out and away beyond my monitor; so I look up and slightly left and I'm loking at our bird feeder and bird bath. This works exactly as you describe, and is important to me.

R.

mariuca

Fujifilm X-T30

Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 OIS

10/03/2011 02:43:25 PM · #12

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Originally posted by BrennanOB:

PS totally unrelated but on the point about typing in front of a mirror, I have a mirror behind my desk and everyone else should too. It isn't about vanity, my mirror is angled to give me a view out the window. What it is good for, is reducing eye strain. Spending too long in one focal distance is tough on the eyes. By glancing up into the mirror, just above the monitor, my eyes focus on the tree in the backyard, at maximum focal distance, running through their full focal range. It is sort of like getting up from your chair and stretching every few moments. Calisthenics for the eyes.

I'm set up with my left shoulder near the long wall of our living space and the windows stretching out and away beyond my monitor; so I look up and slightly left and I'm loking at our bird feeder and bird bath. This works exactly as you describe, and is important to me.

R.

Ha ha, I have the same setting as both of you BUT my the mirrors are tilted such to show me the street (in my studio), the sky (in the bedroom). I cannot see myself at all. I'll search for the Hemingway picture though. Different setting and used for seeing himself. And part of this destroyed him.
I vaguely remember seeing Hemingway's picture at his desk plus the comments in a book on writers' home.

Message edited by author 2011-10-03 14:48:25.

mariuca

Fujifilm X-T30

Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 OIS

10/03/2011 02:44:49 PM · #13

Originally posted by posthumous:

lovely idea. a self-portrait of our abstract qualities.

You are making it SO MUCH more difficult Don!
On second thoughts ... the mirror portrait is much more convenient. Just kidding, obviously.