The Origins of The Self Image
Posted by Chris Garner on Saturday, September 3, 2011 Under: Origins
At the end of December 2004 an idea began to form, arriving a couple of days before the New Year. It seemed like a good way of challenging myself and it held the promise of a great deal of creativity. The idea was to take a photo a day for an entire year. It would be a self portrait project as this would enable me to consider the idea of a 'self' and the Buddhist concept of 'no self'. It also would give a consistent theme, upon which I could explore and experiment with each day.
The 1st of January 2005 arrived quickly and so I had little time to consider the practicalities of the project. Little did I know that this project would become a fundamental part of my life, challenging and inspiring me every day for the entire year. That's not to say that everyday was easy! Some days I would find the perfect picture, it was obvious and I could capture the right shot in a couple of photographs. Some days I couldn't find anything interesting and it would take a long time to find inspiration. Then there were the days when I could not quite capture the photo I wanted, taking over 100 pictures to get the right one.
I estimate that I took somewhere around 15,000 photographs during the year's project. At the end of the evening I would choose the one photo to represent that day. Some days one picture would stand out clearly, while on others choosing between four very different images, which were equally liked, was very difficult. Finally came the enjoyable task of finding the right name for the photograph.
The project changed me. I began to look at the world differently. I began to look at light, shadows, reflections, clouds and rivers more intently. I began to think more deeply about our surroundings and notice things that I once would have walked by. I became more mindful.
At the end of the project I felt relief that I hadn't missed a day or let down the other photographs (once I'd taken those first few good photos, not finishing the project would have felt like a betrayal to them). I felt happy at what I'd achieved, yet I knew I'd miss that challenge to be inspired and to look for an interesting idea each day.
Those few friends that I showed the results too were very complementary and many even began their own projects.
It's taken a couple of years, but I've finally gotten round to setting up a website for the project. The Self Image has been created to inspire other to begin their own projects; to question our idea of what a 'self' is; and to finally show what I spent all that time doing in 2005.
I hope you enjoy them and are inspired to start your own projects.
C F Garner
The 1st of January 2005 arrived quickly and so I had little time to consider the practicalities of the project. Little did I know that this project would become a fundamental part of my life, challenging and inspiring me every day for the entire year. That's not to say that everyday was easy! Some days I would find the perfect picture, it was obvious and I could capture the right shot in a couple of photographs. Some days I couldn't find anything interesting and it would take a long time to find inspiration. Then there were the days when I could not quite capture the photo I wanted, taking over 100 pictures to get the right one.
I estimate that I took somewhere around 15,000 photographs during the year's project. At the end of the evening I would choose the one photo to represent that day. Some days one picture would stand out clearly, while on others choosing between four very different images, which were equally liked, was very difficult. Finally came the enjoyable task of finding the right name for the photograph.
The project changed me. I began to look at the world differently. I began to look at light, shadows, reflections, clouds and rivers more intently. I began to think more deeply about our surroundings and notice things that I once would have walked by. I became more mindful.
At the end of the project I felt relief that I hadn't missed a day or let down the other photographs (once I'd taken those first few good photos, not finishing the project would have felt like a betrayal to them). I felt happy at what I'd achieved, yet I knew I'd miss that challenge to be inspired and to look for an interesting idea each day.
Those few friends that I showed the results too were very complementary and many even began their own projects.
It's taken a couple of years, but I've finally gotten round to setting up a website for the project. The Self Image has been created to inspire other to begin their own projects; to question our idea of what a 'self' is; and to finally show what I spent all that time doing in 2005.
I hope you enjoy them and are inspired to start your own projects.
C F Garner
This was the very first photo of the project.
In : Origins
Tags: self "no self" "the self image" buddhist light shadow reflection cloud river
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