WHO ARE YOU?

Who Are You?

• Great artists and photographers are able to portray their own
identities in their artwork
• It is possible to produce photography self-portraits in numerous
different ways – with a camera, a phone, using a tripod, the timer
setting, using natural lighting or a flash, with experimental lenses
• You are going to explore the theme of self-portraiture to produce an
alternative portrait
• Consider what you want the viewer to know or to think about you
and the different ways that you can present yourself to the viewer
Shadows
Use your hands
Distortion
Reflection
Fragments
Different Poses
& Expressions
Through Water
Features
Altered
Collaged
Tomoko Sawada
• Born in 1977
• Japanese
contemporary
feminist
photographer and
performance artist
• She has been
included in
numerous group
shows in Japan,
Europe and the US.
Cindy Sherman
• Born 1954
• American artist whose
work consists exclusively
of photographic self-
portraits, depicting herself
in many different contexts
and as various imagined
characters
• One of her most famous
works is called "Complete
Untitled Film Stills," which
is a series of 70 black-
and-white photographs of
herself in many of the
roles of women in
performance media
• In the 1980s, Sherman
used colour film and large
prints, and focused more
on costume, lighting and
facial expression
Gordon Magnin

• Gordon Magnin was born

in Nevada, USA
• Lives and works in
Southern California
• Creates collages using
appropriated photographic
images
• Gordon challenges the
“intended objective,
interpretation, and
significance” of our daily
diet of celebrity,
advertising, and consumer
based images
Task 1 Week beginning Monday 20th April
Produce a mind-map exploring the theme of self-portrait

• Explore different ways that self-portraits are created and how these photos
can be manipulated and edited
• Collect images and names of photographers and artists
• Explore why the artists have chosen to take self-portraits – to express their
identity, explore their personality, to express emotion, to tell us something
about themselves, to conceal their identity, to experiment with photography
techniques and effects?
• There are LOADS of ideas on these slides about the different ways you can
take self-portrait photos- make sure you include these as well as your own
ideas on your mind map!

• Record all of your ideas on a mind-map with

images and keywords
• Start a new PowerPoint presentation and do this on the first slide

• The title is Who are you?

• This is an example of a
successful mind-map

• You can use this for ideas for

presentation for your self-
portraits mindmap

REMEMBER this is a
different theme to yours so
don’t use it for ideas for
content!

It is just to show you an

effective way of presenting
your own ideas about self-
portraiture!
Task 2
Carry out a photoshoot of SELF-
PORTRAITS

• Complete a photoshoot plan (use the

resources provided on the next slides to help
you)
• Take at least 20 photos of yourself
• Consider poses, expressions, lighting, props,
setting, backgrounds, camera angle, focus
and viewpoint very carefully
PHOTOSHOOT
Before you start- generate some ideas – think outside the box!
• What are your passions, pass times, hobbies, interests? What do you want to tell the
viewer about yourself?
• Use props, dress up your face with glasses/hats/make up/hair accessories, jewellery
• Experiment with emotions – try to convey sadness, shock, laughter, thoughtfulness,
anger, fear etc.
• What’s on your mind? How can you express this visually?
• Try gazing in different directions, looking directly at the camera, looking slightly to one
side, up/down, over your shoulder
• Experiment with photographing you reflection in shiny surfaces – mirrors, the back of a
spoon, etc. Consider distortion
• Take photos through a grid, wire rack, through a glasses lens, magnifying glass, stained
glass window, mesh, semi-transparent fabrics, lace
• Experiment with lighting, different angles, use a torch to direct light, shine a torch through
coloured cellophane. Incorporate shadows
• Experiment with colour and black and white photography
• Consider composition- obscure parts of the face with hands/props/scarfs, hats etc
• Think about setting the scene – is there anything in the background, what can be seen
behind or around the face? Is this carefully considered?
• Photograph individual parts of the face at one time, isolate the features
• Create a collage of several different photos of the same face taken from different angles