Selfie culture permeates my social media feed every day. I am constantly bombarded with posts detailing every aspect of personal life. From cuddling on the couch, details of every meal, to showing off that look that someone spent hours perfecting. It is a cultural shift that has been looked on with scorn and contempt by many, outlining participants as narcissistic and vain with diminishing concepts of what’s really important in life. It is a culture that I embrace and support wholeheartedly.

There’s value in selfie culture. I have always found self portraits hard to accomplish, through body image or other problems with the way I look that day, or how I’m presenting myself. It takes comfort in your body and your physical appearance to take a picture of yourself, and be happy enough with it to share with your family and friends. While the first image for my challenge is indeed a self portrait, I am trying for something a bit deeper than confidence.

Portraiture has always been a medium for me to connect with people. My only goal when taking a portrait is to tell the truth, something that has been engrained throughout my artistic career, with it’s basis in theatre. Things that can be refined in art include skill, technique, and approach. The overall goal for me never changes. Tell the truth, whatever that truth is.

Although my overall goal is not always easy to accomplish, ego has a tendency to come in the way. Ego is what separates self from selfish and it is an obstacle to honesty. In a model, it’s the first thing I work on eliminating. Ego is a great tool in social circles, protecting us from ridicule and other embarrassment, and like any tool must be put away when it is no longer needed.

For this image I have required of myself what I have of any model I’ve worked with, honesty. That truth may change over time, but capturing that instant is one of the traits of photography. That being said, here’s my image for week one.

There will be an update later this week featuring the behind-the-scenes for this shot. I’ll also be reprinting this blog in the upcoming weeks on Tumblr for those of us with account there so you can get updates there.

For more information about my challenge click here!

Second deadline: Monday, October 13, 2014.