Colors Self-Portrait Photography Series [Personal Project]
I began planning this colorful self-portrait project during our very first COVID lockdown in the spring of 2020. When things opened back up faster than expected, this project went on the back burner and I spent the next year spotting random colored objects in my house and creating a mental checklist.
The next spring I had ample time with all of the pandemic restrictions. I spent almost the entirety of May collecting items of every color, digging through and rearranging dance costumes, and scouring the internet for makeup ideas to imitate.
I wanted a Vanity Fair, classic fashion inspired look to contradict how silly the photos were, so I set up a simple gray backdrop in my living room and lit the photos with a single light with very large diffuser. All of the photos are true self-portraits, using the Camera Connect app from Canon on my phone and hiding the phone either under myself or the draped fabrics, with the exception of orange. (Though I did get one Annyong shot on my own before enlisting Cam’s help for that!)
Each setup was an eclectic mix of everyday household objects, newer items that hold lots of emotional value to me (a TON are dance related), and vintage objects (mostly toys) I have held onto. In exploring how to best let go of these childhood possessions, I wanted to find a way to honor them before I say goodbye. Photos have been one great way of doing that. (These toys are a fraction of what I still have!)
After I completed each photo (and variations), I spent a bit of time documenting my makeup with close up portraits. This quickly turned into a mini project of its own! It was a fun challenge to bring that same energy into a much smaller area.
I had such a great time teasing these out on social media one by one and seeing everyone’s reactions. Here is the full set!
The rainbow photo was the very last thing I worked on. It is different in style than the others, but was inspired by the obsessive gathering and sorting I engaged in during this project, and I had briefly considered this top down style for the whole thing. (I am thankful I had the common sense to change my mind on that. This was literally the hardest photo I have ever set up! I’d gladly choose jumping for two hours over doing this again.)
This also gave me a chance to incorporate a few of the items I forgot about for each individual color.
I wasn’t going to spend all that time setting up my colors and only get one photo! Part of my process was interacting with different objects (or in some cases, different outfits) and then choosing my favorite for the final photo. Some decisions were pretty hard. Here are some of my runner up photos!
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