Self-Portraits
Originally started as a way to keep doing photography during the first lockdown 2020. I have continued to practice trying different things, during the second and now third lockdown.
This gallery was originally made up of those images, but over the years, I have created many self-portraits. Mainly headshots, as that was my main income and I was always looking to evolve my work
The first set of images is based around story telling. The second more on technique. I am experimental in both, but the images are very different and should be looked at that way.
Story Telling
The first set of images are about story telling. Some are stories from my imagination. Others are more about me and how I feel. With some of the images, I evolved them over a couple of days, as I was not happy with the original results. Some should be viewed as a collection of images, trying to tell a story, but most are individual. Some involve knives and weapon. Much of my influence comes from films and television. As a child, knights, cowboys, science fiction and war films were big influences on me. As a teenager and later, serial killer and certain horror films influenced my stories. In no way should these be seen as condoning violence.
Technique
These images are much more about learning lighting, lenses, and depth of field than creating great photos. I have at times copied other photographers work, including Yousuf Karsh, or taken another photographers style, these include Lee Jeffries and Peter Lindbergh. I have tried many times to experiment with hands and hand shaping, which is one of the most challenging areas of portraiture. A lot of the images are a failure, but failure is not a bad thing, as long as you can learn from that failure.
