ronet
2011 – 52
I don’t understand the impulse that sparks somebody to commit to 52 weeks of self-portraiture. I don’t understand it—I’ve never felt it—but I’m glad it exists. And I’m doubly glad it exists in our Debra.
It’s one thing to shoot a photograph of yourself using an iPhone or a small digital camera. It’s an entirely different realm of commitment to shoot 52 weeks of self-portraits using a two-and-a-half pound brick requiring a tripod and a long shutter release cable. We’re talking about a completely manual camera—no computer chip to figure out the correct exposure; you do that yourself. But wait—she didn’t just set up the tripod in her home and step in front of the lens once a week. No, she lugged that beast of a camera and the tripod and assorted gear all over Great Britain—everyplace from the most wonderfully cozy pubs to remote locations that look to be at the end of the known world. She shot photos during home renovations, she shot photos in the snow, she set up her camera in winds that would ground light aircraft. And then—and then—she developed her own negatives and printed them herself.
Maybe it’s a form of madness, I don’t know. But I do know this: when you look at Debra’s entire set of 52 self portraits, you’re actually looking at a single portrait of one woman’s dedication and commitment. It would have been so easy NOT to shoot all those photographs. But she did. And she did it every week. For a year. A year.
Again, I don’t understand the impulse behind this. I just hope the impulse strikes her again.
Blog photograph copyrighted to the photographer and used with permission by utata.org. All photographs used on utata.org are stored on flickr.com and are obtained via the flickr API. Text is copyrighted to the author, greg fallis and is used with permission by utata.org. Please see Show and Share Your Work
