self

1:12 PM Posted by James Owens



Nothing is ever the same as they said it would be. It's what I've never seen before that I recognize.

--Diane Arbus

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9 comments:

Marion McCready said...

Well this is a wee change from your previous photographs :)

I'm fascinated by what I've read about Diane Arbus.

An interesting self portrait, I feel you're not giving much away yet the clarity is so film-like that I'm almost expecting you to open your mouth and start talking to me!

James Owens said...

Sorlil: A wee change, yes :-) Actually, I was looking through a book of Diane Arbus's portraits, and I was suddenly stricken with the urge to take pictures of people, which I haven't done before, and no one else was at hand.... Arbus had such success wih pictures of the odd and disaffected and marginal, so I thought it might work for me, too....

Lady Jo said...

Bonjour James,

Auto portrait beau; un peu triste ,je vois un visage fermé !!! solitude ??? hum, tu me fais penser au film "Au nom de la rose" tu aurais pu prendre le rôle de Sean Connery...ça, c'est un compliment ;-)

Bon dimanche James !
@ plus, bises.

Roxana said...

Sean Connery, yes!!! :-)

i am surprised by this image, i feel in it a contained force, even fury, something as hard and dark as the stone - this look wants to tear apart the flesh of the world and will not give up. never. sadness too, but not the feminine, gentle melancholy i used to project unto your image :-)

i cannot talk very well about the feelings that are being born in me now, the picture is so compelling that it forces me to be quiet, to contemplate it in silence and let it grow roots in me.

James Owens said...

Lady Jo: Merci :-) Ah, Sean Connery … Je crois que je n’ai jamais rencontré une femme qui n’était pas amoureuse de Sean Connery.... Si seulement je pouvais emprunter un peu de ce qu’il possède, quoi que ce soit!

James Owens said...

Roxana: Maybe it is good that I can surprise you a little, sometimes :-)

I have my stubborn side. I won’t give up, no.... Fury? ... maybe ... maybe ...

The fear with self-portraits is that in photographs one looks just like oneself, whereas outside of photographs this isn’t true....

Lisa said...

Hello, Just bloghopping. Great blog!

Be Well :)

Lisa said...

Hello, Just bloghopping. Great blog!

Be Well :)

James Owens said...

Hi, Lisa. Thanks for visiting!