I am …

The idea behind this self-portrait project came to me naturally, spontaneously, and it kept revisiting me until one day I finally made the newspaper backdrop and shot all the photos. We all have created images of who we believe we are and we have also built mental images for the people around us. The image making is based on what we do, where we live, what we like/dislike, what we say and think. However, each and every image is subject to change and this can happen gradually or in an instant. Do we fight the change staying within the limitations of the character we have accepted/chosen/built for ourselves, or do we embrace the transformation and create a new “me”? What is more, can we see past the images we have created of ourselves and of others and if so, what are we to discover if we dare investigate deeper?

Like a good European movie, I am going to leave you with all the questions…

🙂

 “How can I accept a limited definable self when I feel, in me, all possibilities?… I never feel the four walls around the substance of the self, the core. I feel only space. Illimitable space.”
― Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934

“It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.”

-“The Invitation”, Oriah Mountain Dreamer

“The easiest thing to be in the world is you. The most difficult thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don’t let them put you in that position.” 
― Leo Buscaglia

“The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself.”
― Lao Tzu

“There is a common relationship between us all. We are the world essentially, basically, fundamentally. The world is you, and you are the world. Realizing that fundamentally, deeply, not romantically, not intellectually but actually, then we see that our problem is a global problem. It is not my problem or your particular problem, it is a human problem.”
― Jiddu Krishnamurti

“And the idea of ourselves is our escape from the fact of what we really are.” 
― Jiddu Krishnamurti, What are You Doing with Your Life: Teen Books on Living Volume 1

P.S. I donated all these outfits too 🙂

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20 Feb This entry was published on February 20, 2016 at 4:39 am. It’s filed under Photo Series, Selfies, Uncategorized and tagged are we what we do, beyond the idea of who we are, I am, image making, self portraits, self series, Slava Bowman Photography, washington mo photographer, who are we. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.