Seven Weeks of Self

[davidc]

I wondered if this might make finding inspiration for the 365/PAD projects, as well as be an interesting forum challenge/competition for the club at large.

Basically, the concept is simple - seven days, each day you take a self portrait to a specific theme. The theme is decided by your friends/club colleagues/internet contacts etc. and can either be judged for winners or just posted up for sharing.

However, seven self portraits, to a theme, in seven consecutive days is quite hardcore so I was thinking we set a start date and then do this over the course of seven weeks. So for example if we announced the first theme on 1st Feb (for the sake of argument) then we need to post the pic by 8th Feb and the next theme is announced same day to be judged a week later. That would give each of us time to think of how we wish to interpret the theme, take the shot and process it. It also means we can have some ideas for the following week's theme being worked on by others so we're ready to go each week.

I was going to tap into my work photo club to get them to suggest themes, as well as open it up to the club here, then we can vote on a starting theme on the forum and be ready to begin on a set date.

Anyone else interested in doing this? I appreciate self portraits are not everyone's cup of tea but are challenging and rewarding precisely because they are hard to do. I can think of a couple of non-club members that would be interested in joining too and would probably be happy for me to share their work for added reward/incentive too.

[Nina]

Congratulations on producing a plan David. Great idea, but not for me, my lens stays firmly pointed away from my face.

[davidc]

Awww comeon it'll be fun! And self-portrait doesn't mean face. You just need to be in it.

[Mike Farley]

Self portrait is on my list for my PAD project, but the subject is the one I am least comfortable about. I would want to see the proposed themes before committing.

[davidc]

So after much thinking I've settled on 21 words or themes that can form the inspiration for this. I then split them into random groups of three, assigned to each week. The idea is that I'll post the choices for each week on facebook, twitter, work forum and here and then collate the votes to determine which theme will be used on any given week.

Week 1

Fantasy
My Secret Identity
Cinematic

Week 2

Hidden
Hope
Light

Week 3

Illusion
Apocalypse
Hero

Week 4

Villain
Secret
Carnival

Week 5

Desire
Wet
Dirty

Week 6

Future
Motion
Perception

Week 7

Trust
Fear
Memory

As you can see, I've tried to keep the themes such that they can be interpreted in multiple different ways. An alternative if you wished to join in but not be tied to the voted-theme would be to simply choose one of the options from each week yourself. However I think the voting is good as it exercises the creative muscles more when it's a surprise!

I know the self portrait idea for some reason fills people with terror but I can't see a valid, logical reason for it - our friends and family see us every day so showing them a picture of ourselves is nothing they don't already see. The only difference is this time WE are seeing ourselves and that's no reason to be afraid. At least not for anyone who has looked in a mirror! And the benefit for this project is we have a model that will do anything we want

Anyone else interested? Thinking about getting people to start voting today so I can make a start on Sunday. Personally I think it'd be a fun project and a great way to watch how different people interpret each theme.

[davidc]

FYI I've started the voting process now so will keep this thread updated.

[Paul Heester]

Missed this thread originally but Im hesitantly going to say yes to it.

I love this quote!

And the benefit for this project is we have a model that will do anything we want .

[davidc]

Excellent, well done for being brave

[davidc]

My Secret Identity so far the clear leader

[Mike Farley]

What the Duck.

http://www.whattheduck.net/node/4618