Celebratory Photos

I took some new photos in celebration of one year of no cutting. I know that seems weird, to say I celebrated by taking self-portraits, but let me see if I can try to explain...

A lot of people don't get why I take so many self-portraits. Or, perhaps it's better to say, they come to their own (erroneous) conclusions about why I do it. Conclusions like, "She just thinks she's sooo pretty and wants to look at herself all day long." Um, no, not true. Or this one: "She always takes pictures of herself because it's the only way she can make sure she always looks good." Also not true, because I don't necessarily think it makes me "always" look good (however, the added control does ensure that I feel like I look better than I might otherwise, let's be honest).

The self-portraits, for me, allow me to explore how I'm feeling and what I'm thinking and try to emote that in a way that can be captured on film. Sometimes I actually surprise myself, because in looking at the pictures later I'll realize how I felt better than I did when I was taking the pics. I see myself differently when I see myself in the photos, and I don't just mean physically. I see parts of my personality that I don't usually recognize - strengths and weaknesses and everything in between. They're there, in the pictures, in ways I wouldn't realize without them.

Self-portraiture is, for me, a sort of self-discovery. That's why I take so many pictures of myself.

So on the occasion of this anniversary, I wanted to take some pictures in the hopes that I might capture how much I've healed. And, in my humble opinion, I do believe I did just that.














[Note: Yes, I have all of these in color as well, but I'm really fond of the black-and-white shots for this particular shoot.]