Do you have a favorite self-portrait? Photographer Aline Smithson, author and editor of Lenscratch, is offering a number of exhibition opportunities on her blog. Her last open exhibition, Your Favorite Images of 2010, received a huge response and it was such a joy to view and discover so many photographers.
Details for submitting your favorite self-portrait can be found on Lenscratch and submissions are due April 25th (that’s next Monday). The exhibit will be posted on May 2nd.
I’ve always been intrigued by self-portraits. Do they allow the photographer to reveal their innermost self or do they provide a strict degree of control over how the photographer is presented to others? Maybe a little bit of both? Sometimes a photographer finds that he or she is simply the most accommodating and readily available model around. I tend to use myself as the subject when there is a method that I want to experiment with. My favorite self-portrait to date is one I took in 2007 using a long exposure:
"looking forward, looking ahead", 2007 ©Erin Tyner
Getting my left eye to align with the position of my right eye after slowly moving my head was equal parts serendipity and patience. I’ve been meaning to experiment with a similar portrait in a much darker setting to see what results. Perhaps I will use it for my new album cover.
album cover for the James Blake 2011 self-titled release
Speaking of James Blake, his debut full-length album is one of several new releases that I’m hooked on this year. Check out the stunning video for “Limit to Your Love” directed by Martin de Thurah:
etsy interview
The handmade marketplace Etsy interviewed me for their Featured Seller series. Read the interview here.
stranger than fiction
"Marie", 2010 by ©Erin Tyner
“I have seen all, I have heard all, I have forgotten all.” Marie Antoinette
- from Antonia Fraser’s Marie Antoinette: The Journey
“Marie” is a flower portrait from my Any Other Name series. This collection of botanical photos was inspired by the compelling personalities of my favorite female protagonists and antagonists in literature. Most represent fictional characters from beloved novels and short stories, but a couple from biographical literature crept in as well. My intention to personify these characters guided the flower selections and compositions.
What flower would I select to represent a child bride and France’s unhappiest queen? Marie Antoinette is most often depicted as a symbol of wanton extravagance with rare regard for her acts of benevolence.
Portraits of Marie Antionette by Jean-Baptiste André Gautier-Dagoty (left) and Joseph Ducreux
Queen Anne’s lace is a a peculiar flower, with a tiny stem that doesn’t seem like it could possibly support the giant bloom that explodes from the top. Upon careful examination, the blossom is composed of delicate clusters of florets that radiate from the center and create a pattern not unlike a firework or snowflake.
Because of the flower’s invasive nature and ability to crowd out native plants, some people claim Queen Anne’s lace is not a wildflower but instead a noxious weed. I have seen it grow in the most unpleasant places from garbage-filled fields to roadside ditches. Regal and resolute, Queen Anne’s lace poses proudly, her showy white head completely unaware of the dire surroundings.
Flower, or weed? I suppose it’s in the eye of the beholder.
"Portrait of Marie Antoinette" by Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, 1783
View more images from Any Other Name on my website.
gift card giver
Four framed photographs from my Half Awake series will be up for silent auction at the Re-Deemed Art Auction to benefit Gift Card Giver on November 12th (this Friday evening). Event location and other information can be found on the Re-Deemed Art Auction event page.
Gift Card Giver is a charity that collects unused gift cards and cards with remaining balances and distributes those cards to non-profits and people in need. The Atlanta Journal & Constitution recently featured this organization for collecting and redistributing $70,000 worth of gift cards in the past three years.
Gift Card Giver provides a unique, fun and easy way to give to others. Do you have unused gift cards in your wallet that you’d like to share? Click here to get started.
other people’s songs
Cover photo by © Sarah Jurado
So much outstanding original music has been released this year that I’m glad this cover album didn’t slip under my radar. Damien Jurado and Richard Swift paired up one weekend this Summer to record a number of songs by artists ranging from Yes to John Denver to Chubby Checker. Recorded with a classic ribbon mic, the album has a delicious throwback vibe. Check out the retro sound on their version of Kraftwerk’s “Radioactivity”:
They have made the entire album available for free on the Other People’s Songs tumblr site.
This has been a busy year for Damien Jurado who released his 10th proper album, Saint Bartlett, as well as the self-titled Hoquiam album recorded with his brother Drake. If you live in Atlanta, Damien will be opening this evening for Shearwater at The Earl in East Atlanta.
