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Self portrait/photobook Project plan+ideas!

Identity-proj #4


ID photos play an interesting role in showing someone's identity. First and foremost one photo (id selfie) only shows one face of someone, everyone is way more complex than what any card can show. I want to explore the institutional identity of someone, and personal identity. One photo will never be able to show everything about a person, but small details can reveal a bit more information about a person. Beginning with a standardized ID-style portrait I will create a book where the images of me will slowly shift into photos revealing more expression, movement and individuality. I want to reflect on how identity cannot be fully captured within a rigid system and instead exists as something shaped by environment and experience. I hope to explore concepts of individuality. Every student has an ID card, how many of them are smiling in their photo? How many have glasses? How did they choose the kind of glasses? Did they dye their hair? Are they wearing makeup? Why are they wearing what they are? There's so many minor details that can be noticed if you look closely. Even small visual elements can communicate deeper aspects of individuality. I intend to show more and more details through this series, slowly showing more identity through photos of me. 


For my second photobook I want to show a sequence of my human traces. Every human will always leave a trace of themselves, a fragment of themselves and their identity. I want to represent myself going through my day through what I leave behind. The viewer of my book will be following me without ever seeing me through morning, afternoon, evening and night. I want the focus to be on not the materialistic objects I use but how these objects show I was there; for example not just a hairbrush but maybe the hair left behind inside the hairbrush. I think a lot of someone's identity and personality can be seen through the objects and style they wear, for example the inside of someone's backpack is different in every student, even the font of someone's handwriting can tell part of their story. I also aim to play with absence directly, capturing space where something clearly just happened. I hope the sequence of these images allow the viewer to construct an understanding of who I am or could be based on these fragments. Ultimately, this project shows identity can be built through actions, moments and traces someone leaves behind.

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