Week 4 January 22 – 28
As we near the end of our 4th week of Project 52, I’m impressed with how many of us have kept up! And if you haven’t, don’t throw in the towel… a collection of 50 images at the end of the year is better than none.
So how did you do with self-portrait?
I’ve heard all sorts of excuses from my clients, especially women, about why they don’t want to get photographed.
“I want to lose weight first.”
“I need a haircut / color / new style… first.”
“I’m not dressed for it.”
“I feel silly getting my picture taken.”
(See my readers responses as to why they put it off on my FB page!)
Yeah, I get it. I really do. Even though I’m a photographer, I’m a mom first. And I’ve carried and nursed 3 babies. This body ain’t what it was 13 years ago.
But guess what girls? It’s not about you.
Getting your portrait taken isn’t FOR you. It’s for the people who love you.
I have exactly two photographs of my grandmother. In one, she’s posing with 5 generations (!) of family: me, my dad, her, her mom, her grandmother. In the other photo, she’s talking off camera at my First Communion celebration. It’s a candid.
She looks beautiful. And young. And healthy. The way I remember her before cancer took her away from us when I was 16.
And that is why you must. must! get photographed. It’s not for you. It’s not even really about you. It’s for your granddaughter. And it’s for her granddaughter. And for all the members of your circle of loved ones. They cherish you…
exactly the way you are.
Because, girlfriend, you’re not getting younger. Your hairstyle reflects the current trends. And your clothes? Don’t matter.
Your best friend, your son, your granddaughter will cherish the images of you one day, like you cherish the images of your loved ones. Exactly the way you remember them.
Get in the picture. Your granddaughter thanks you.
(clicking each image leads to its source.)
Cannot wait to see your beautiful selves.
great post darcey!
Great post… and now I feel like a dweeb about what I wrote in my post (how posing for myself felt weird and nerdy). I’m well and truly chastised Darcy, chastised!
ha! that little pep talk was just as much for ME as it was for all of you. vanity is a tough little beast. i’m totally guilty of all the excuses myself.
Oh the pictures of myself I’ve deleted….I never stopped to consider my future generations missing me. Thank you for a great reminder.
I love this post! I had a close call last year due to a burst appendix. Lying in hospital I had a lot of time to think, and there were a lot of what ifs. I decided there and then to start taking more pictures of myself (on my own, with my husband and my children), for my husband, for my children and for future generations. No more excuses! Thank you so much for this reminder!
Brilliant post! I came into possession of boxes and boxes of family archival photos when my uncle passed. As a project for my extended family I organized, researched family trees, and restored these photos into a book for everyone. I became completely enamored of the women I saw in these photos. Granted soooo many more were of the men in the family, but the women made my imagination soar. You are so right about leaving a piece of us for our family to enjoy and remember. Bravo!
Kathy
What a cool thing to get to have/do! It’s really quite a privilege to have all those images. Esp from generations ago when they were so rare!
It’s true! I have noticed how many pictures I DON’T have of myself. I really need to change that this year. I always make excuses too! I guess we are all similar!! I love your old photos – how beautiful!
How funny I hate photos of myself! but this week I did a mini self photo session and after reading your post I had to link! Thank you!
I love this post, it’s all soooo true. I feel silly having my picture taken, but you are right, these pictures are for our loved ones, especially our kids and their kids! I love looking at pictures of my grandma and my mom when they were younger – these photos are such a gift!
Jo-Anna
Great pep talk! I was ridiculously undecided about my photo this week and added and deleted it from my post several times. My final decision was to delete my generic portrait and go with something more ambiguous. After reading your post I added it back in. So silly the pressure we put on ourselves! Thanks for the challenge!!
I totally relate! I also took a ‘back up’ pic in case I chickened out of the keepin’ it real one.
Ultimately, I look at these old photos and the women are wearing plain dresses, very little make up, they aren’t stick thin… and I’m just so… I dunno… happy about the real life glimpse. Grateful they were photographed so we could see.
What a wonderful post. Great thoughts, turning the subect right upside down. Perfect.
Hi Darcy!
I don’t have anything to link up, but I just wanted to tell you that I think this is a terrific, wonderful, excellent, very good post. And it’s true. And it’s inspiring. In short, it’s a winner. So are you.
Such a true post. I don’t really know why I hate being photographed but you are right, I need to be for my kids. Maybe it is the whole thought of being proudfull about myself if I enjoyed having my picture taken. But if you change the mindset to it not being about myself then maybe, just maybe it wouldn’t be so stressful.
You are really right in saying that taking a portrait of you is not just for you but it’s for the people who love you. They need some sort of remembrance and seeing your photo would make them feel happy. How many self portraits have you made for yourself?
I like the example pictures above! Very old school yet cool!
-Steven
http://onlinedatingtipsnadvice.com
I am so bad about being in pictures!
I love the photos you used to accompany this post. It’s fun to see the hairstyles and the clothing of the time. As well as see who you got your looks from.
Clicking on the pictures takes you to the owners’ Flickr sites. These are beautiful example of heirloom family photos. Not my family, but I adore them anyway.
well said, darcy. had to give my perspective too, on my blog. http://juliecache.com/2012/01/27/self-portrait/.html
Thank you very much for sponsoring this Project. Also thank you for this prompt. I certainly did not want to do a self portrait, but I have to say that I am loving “meeting” all of the Project 52 participants. It was really the hardest for me to do and I tried to come up with something creative all week. I tried a few things even the straightforward ones and had so much trouble. My skills does not meet my vision yet. While it was the hardest reading everyone’s posts has made it so worth it. Thank you.
These old photos are amazing. Love them.
Darcy, I will be back to join in next time! Just had my first lesson and I’m so pumped (though only shooting in manual mode for now – it’s a start! No more auto mode.
Super excited to join in…. better late than never, I guess. I LOVE this post and the encouragement to get in front of the camera ourselves!!!
So well said Darcy- it’s so true. I am so glad I have met so many beautiful women bloggers that have helped me realize this & helped me get over myself & just do it.
I absolutely love your words. They have so much truth to them! Last year I did a project on my blog called “Pictures of Me” and it was for the exact reasons you have listed here. Love it!!!
Great post! You’re right! I used to always take photos of myself until I had my son. I have to remember now to include myself!
Great post! I’m guilty… thanks for helping push me to correcting that!!! Getting on the other side of the camera is something I’ve been meaning to do… but have been procrastinating actually doing it!! =P
I so agree Darcy. Pictures connect us to the past. I love looking at the photos of my family. I wrote about the same of kind of thing in my April 2011 post “Memories of the way we were”.
Pictures record the memories and the faces of people we’ve lost or loved.
I’m usually behind the camera but the past year I’ve gotten in front of it.
Thanks for the great post
Darcy I love this post, it’s so inspirational!!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful insight! I’m really enjoying P52.
I’m so glad I stumbled upon this. What a great week to jump right into. I added the extra challenge of not making a big fuss about getting ready for the picture. I linked this post and the original P52 post and I’m going to see if anyone will join me. http://greekwife.blogspot.com/2012/02/p52-week-4-self-portrait.html
Life is starting to catch up in Living Color… feel free to check out my self-portrait here…
http://virginlewisfamily.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/self-portrait/