I literally google searched images ‘self-portrait culture’ and ‘self-portrait religion’ to see how those elements might be portrayed in a self-portrait. This exercise was interesting as my initial understanding of a self-portrait was a photo of just yourself - if you reflect back to the individual shots taken in primary school so parents could have a wallet sized photo of you. The only form of identity included in these primary school photos was the school uniform.
During the hunt and gather exercise, religion and cultural identity were portrayed as a prop in a person’s self-portrait, an artefact included in the photo. Sketched self-portraits show an attempt at displaying one as multi-faceted with half the face of the person and the other half of the various things that form their identity.
I wondered, what does a self-portrait with just the face alone, no props, portray? I guess I wanted to see if it was possible to show the different elements I identify with in just my face alone?
Upon viewing self-portraits without any props I found a person’s eyes as the most captivating feature; it would draw me in. Viewing photos where artists focused on the eyes of the model, the image (reflection) within the pupils was somewhat mysterious. The initial glance of the photo allowed you to see the model, continue staring and you begin to think there was more to the photo than you actually saw.
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