When I was planning my February Photofest this year I really wanted to continue on with featuring images of other people during this month long project but sadly mostly due to Covid I had been unable to meet up with anyone in order to take some photos of them. So how could I possibly do Friends Round Friday without having really seen any friends (who wanted to take their clothes off and let me photograph them)?
But then I had an idea
What if they took their own photos and let me showcase them here?
Turns out that the people I asked said yes and so Friends Round Friday lives on
My first guest is Joe who is on Twitter as @KM1artphotos. We got chatting on Twitter about nude self-portraits after he commented on a number of my 365 images that I post there. Looking through his account I noticed that he some stunning images of his own and asked if would be up for featuring some on my blog. After thinking about it he said he was absolutely fine with me posting any that I liked but that the thought of picking any himself triggered a imposter syndrome reaction in him.
I am fairly sure most of us who take and post images of ourselves can totally relate to this reaction. How do you pick? Who the hell am I say that any of my images are worthy? And that is before you add in any insecurities about your body.
So I have selected two of his images to share with you here.
Starting with this one about which Joe wrote
My whole life I have always felt ashamed of who I am and the way I looked. But one of my biggest insecurities as long as I can remember has been my size. Being so disproportionate, currently over average height, yet so under average.
I think the light in is glorious. The way it reveals that eye and the intensity of his gaze as he looks at us. It is quite captivating. There is a real tension in this image that makes it feel a bit like a coiled spring.
The other image I picked is this. It is such a beautifully subtle image. I am a big fan of exploring unusual angles in my self portraits and of course mirrors have so much potential. This is one of those images that inspires me to reach for my camera and see if I can recreate my own version.
Nude self portraits might be a new venture to Joe but I think we can probably all agree that he seems to have a great eye for it and I hope he continues to explore it because I love seeing his work on my timeline.
