New Self-Portraits Portfolio

hiya all, so i like to take self-portraits a lot. theyre all over the place, google galleries, my website, randomly on my blog and social networks. ive decieded to place them all together in one large portfolio styled collection. ive been working on getting them all together to edit them into said collections. its far from finshed but here is SNEAK PEAK at the rough draft of the Artist Statement i started typing out for it.... check back soon for more!

I'm Xavier, Photographer, graduate of New England School Of Photography, in Boston, MA. (NESOP). My favorite photographs to take are Self-Portraits. I was classically trained on film (before the digital age), in and out of B&W and Color darkrooms, where the smell of fixer was like perfume. In this new age I've made the switch to digital and, as with all photographers, you're never done learning. My major was Fine Art Color Project. My minors were Fashion and a general intake of Commercial Practices/Classes. In the 7+ years sense my graduation I've waded through many fields of the photography business; my work remains mainly a personal venture that I share on my blogs and social networks.

One project I still continue to develop is my collection of Self-Portraits. The late Tom Petit, my major instructor at NESOP, had two mantras I still put into my photos each time I dust off my camera; "Think Outside The Box" and "Trust In The Process". More than anything he wanted his students to peer inward to explore, experience, and to share, not only the art we were creating but ourselves as well. Each term Self-Portraits were a requirement for his classes. I've been addicted to Self-Portraits since and owe him my gratitude for so generously sharing his wisdom, without which, I wouldn't have finished art school.

So we come to the definition of what a "Self-Portrait" is... Tom's explanation in class for our first assignment was; "I don't care if you throw rocks at your shutter button to take the picture, as long as you take the picture and you are in it!" Other photographers will set up the shot and consent others to wield the camera under their advisement. I play with a mixture of both; feeling that as long my concept is being captured and [part of me] is in the image than I'm only breaking some of the rules. Largely I strive to be alone in this process and prefer to trip the shutter myself, though at times the set up is too much to do it all myself.

As Art is what it is, this definition can be massive grey area open to infinite interpretation of dialog between creator and viewer, the definaition is always being re-written. When "Thinking Outside The Box" that line created by others is easy to bend or reshape. As you proceed forward through my images you'll notice the way I group my images is deliberate to move this line. For myself turning the camera around too photograph myself gets boring so I started building images where I'm the subject in scenarios, concepts (such as songs), and indeed, not always alone. For instants, I started putting other people into my Self-Portraits in a understanding that a person is the sum of their experiences, you are not always alone.

I will briefly outline my concepts around the grouping/edits of this project and, as only I can do, let YOU fill in the rest of the blanks.

Enjoy
Xavier Armand Photography

Rough Outline For Groupings:
• Turning the camera around
• Documentation of being here
• Shadows, Reflections, and Pieces
• Concepts
• Songs
• Along-side others
• For the fun of Art
• ETC (this list is never complete)