Remember that game in Kindergarten? You know, write under the face the emotion name? Every so often I do self-portraits for that evasive profile pic. This morning I decided to be fun with it, and turned vanity into an Expression Project:
I came up with the idea for an Expression Project to
- have fun/be funny,
- be comfortable in own skin,
- value emotions, or offset criminalizing emotions,
- fine tune awareness as a photographer, e.g., posing,
- humanize people in photographs vs. call them "subjects,"
- express as a pathway to interactivity,
- improve mindfulness of the power of self expression,
- decrease fear of "being exposed,"
- transition impression management to "expressive presentation,"
- generate positive pairing for expression,
- break down walls to connect with others,
- add more expressions than the smile,
- consider impact and efficacy in conveying the self,
- enhance compassion and empathetic understanding,
- empower public speaking,
- include the researcher in the project,
- offset harmful views of body image,
- produce a positive self image,
- reframe vanity to defer to holism, or health,
- transition from containment/consumer motif, e.g., "have," to identity,
- lead by example,
- and to laugh at self,
or to otherwise embrace the power of expression.
To establish a "baseline," I photographed with/at the same
- time/day,
- lighting environment,
- camera (mobile phone!)
- production software,
- location,
- clothes,
- colorspace,
- cropping,
- and vertical/horizontal framing.
I opted for grayscale to reduce any other distraction in the image save the expression. I used the same editing process in Lightroom and IrfanView. I did not caption the images with my interpretation or "favorites." Here I'm trying to be interactive (see below). I wore red because I like red, and so I shared my favorites in color elsewhere.
I suspect that this project can benefit people. I offer it as an expressive arts modality for consulting for those navigating change, stress, or loss. Here the person(s) must do their own expression project.
Barring all else, I'll let you know if I receive any calls from Hollywood...
What emotions do you see expressed above? I encourage you to create your own Expression Project! Start with yourself first! It's fast, easy, fun, and you might learn a new side of you!
Strike a Pose!
Dena
As a person thinks in her heart,
so she is...
