Selfie / Self Portraits

In this modern day and age when technology is increasingly overtaking our lives, it is for better or worse all too common to be flooded with "selfies" of those on social media. It can be entertaining and fun or annoying and boring depending on who exactly is behind the selfie. In my opinion, what makes it entertaining and fun is when people either don't take it too seriously and have fun with it (but are not boring/basic with it) OR take it very seriously and have KILLER selfies. 

I work as a professional photographer and have been studying specifically the art of photography since 2003. In that time, I've fallen in and out of love with photography and then back in love just a few years ago. I had a meaningful affair with painting and fashion illustration, but photography still stands as the glorious artistic holy grail- especially when paired with modern technology, it is an instrument for great, beautiful works of art to be created. 

There is nothing wrong with loving yourself, appreciating your life and appreciating your body and that is what having portraits taken of yourself can do. They can capture not just certain moments, but a certain time in your life. You and your family- descendants that you may never know will be able to look back on the pictures you had taken and reflect on how truly beautiful you were at that time in your life.

I love photography and I love fashion, so obviously I LOVE (Some might say I LIVE) for fashion photography! Just like why I love fashion illustration- fashion photography can capture fashion as art. The aesthetics of illustration vs. photography is vastly different in so many ways, but for photography, I use digital manipulation very similarly to how I use classic art supplies to render proportion and depth in illustrations. It is fun either way but photography and digital art is more forgiving and allows for an even wider range of creative possibilities.

Of course, part of the fun of digitally enhancing photography into art is creating a fantasy world. Part of my fantasy is being on the cover of Vogue! Hey, it could happy. Until it does, or even if it never does, in my fantasy world it already has so I'm happy! I have this image to not only satiate my thirst for glamour, high fashion and art but to document myself as I am today. 

I've never loved myself more than I do today, at 30 years of age. I love the fact that as you get older, you get wiser and more comfortable in your own skin; I appreciate that fact and will be happy to get older until it's time for my spirit to leave this hot little body and float into the afterlife. 

I like to think that I will age gracefully and when I actually GET wrinkles, I won't airbrush them too much (if at all). I honestly respect age and hate the way society values youth and beauty more than age and wisdom. I understand the lust for beauty in this world (Libras love beautiful things), but I also understand that beauty in this world is fleeting and as hopeless to hang onto as earthly possessions that you'll leave behind when your life ends. Instead of loving beauty and things we should just love other people, ourselves and the earth!

So simply to commemorate this time, as I start my fourth decade of life, and to pay homage to the original master of the self-portraits Rembrandt, this post is to show that I was here in 2017 and that I loved myself. 

Was Rembrandt ahead of his time? Did he foreshadow a narcissistic culture of selfie obsessed people or did he simply embody a primal narcissistic trait in all of us that has always and will always exist? 

                                                   Self Portrait as a Young Man c. 1628

From Wikipedia: The dozens of self-portraits by Rembrandt were an important part of his oeuvre. Rembrandt created approaching one hundred self-portraits including over forty paintings, thirty-one etchings and about seven drawings; some remain uncertain as to the identity of either the subject (mostly etchings) or the artist (mostly paintings), or the definition of a portrait.

Self Portrait  c. 1634

The self-portraits create a visual diary of the artist over a span of forty years. They were produced throughout his career at a fairly steady pace, but there is a gradual shift between etchings, more numerous until the 1630s, to paintings, which are more common thereafter. However, there is a gap in paintings between 1645 and 1652. The last three etchings date to 1648,^[5] c. 1651,^[6] and 1658,^[7] whereas he was still painting portraits in 1669, the year he died at the age of 63

                                                      Self Portrait at the age of 63  c. 1669

Rembrandt is "with the possible exception of Van Gogh, the only artist who has made the self-portrait a major means of artistic self-expression, and he is absolutely the one one who has turned self-portraiture into an autobiography."- Kenneth Clark 

Witch Hazel Dress (Test Shoot)

Best friend Sarah Elizabeth Kabir was kind enough to model this piece for me, the 'Witch Hazel Dress'. I knew I had to use real flowers when styling this garment for the photoshoot and since my idea of using dandelions in her hair was vetoed, we stopped to get a fresh bouquet and I'm happy we did. The vivid colors of the flowers lend themselves perfectly to colorization- or converting the image to grey scale and popping out certain colors.

This 'Witch Hazel' style is not actually complete at the moment, that's why this post is labeled test shoot. Sarah was just visiting and I couldn't pass up the chance to have her model for me. The style will be shot again outdoors later this year, with the finishing touches of draped sleeves and added skirt fabric around the back.

The hi-low style of this piece allows for both a hint of sexy fun and still a regal silhouette that was inherent in this design. 

The 'Witch Hazel' dress is part of my Hazel Marie Collection, which is named after two of my grandmothers, Hazel Killeen and Marie Lanner. The concept behind the styles of this collection is 'Princess meets Witch'; imagine a rogue princess that abandons her castle (like Princess Jasmine) and goes into the woods to become a witch. 

Is she a good witch or a bad witch?

Our favorite shot is the pose on the fur bench, with Sarah posed effortlessly elegantly, showing perfectly Sarah's ideal figure, the bright flower bouquet, the silhouette of the dress and the luxurious gold Celeste shoes (Style Stacey size 7- email josephklln07@gmail.com if you wold like to buy these shoes).

Along with dramatic posing, the design elements of the dress and the styling of the photo shoot work together to embody the earthy glamour of the dress and the collection as a whole.

Thanks Sarah for bringing it so fiercely!

Taking it one step further with digital manipulation using fairytale themed backdrops, the intrinsic fantasy element of the style is enhanced. 

 Witch Hazel Dress (Hazel Marie Collection) designed by Joseph Andrew Killeen.

Shot in Nyack, New York May 2017