“The only journey is the one within.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
This weekend is the 600th Sinful Sunday. When I started the meme back in 2011 I could never have predicted that it would turn into such a great project. As I wrote on the Sinful Sunday post this week of all the projects I have done over the years it is the one I am most proud of and love the most.
The community of bloggers who have joined in over the years have always been amazing and it has been an inspiration and a privilege to be part of that community.
However for me Sinful Sunday has been a personal journey too. One that has spanned the whole 11 and half years of its existence. I have joined in every single week that the meme has been running which means this is my 600th Sinful Sunday post. That means 600 self portrait images from the arty to the down right pornographic. Every single one has been a journey into me, my body, my sexual self, me as a photographer and me as the model. I have learned so much about all of those aspects of me and I continue to do so.
I was 39 when I started Sinful Sunday. I am 50 now. Sometimes looking back at some of those changes, particularly the physical aspect can be challenging. Age is not kind to the body but also looking back I also feel pride at how my relationship with my body has changed. How I am more accepting of it, more comfortable in it than I ever was back then but also how I have grown and developed as a photographer.
I had absolutely no idea what I was doing back then. I was using a little point and shoot camera which I would balance in various places and run into the shot. Eventually I added a remote control trigger and a tripod and eventually a DSLR camera which really did change everything but even now, I feel like I am only just starting out as a self portrait photographer. There are many images here I am hugely proud of and I definitely have some favourites but I also feel that I have not taken anything like my best picture yet and oddly I hope I don’t ever feel that I have, because then what would be the point of carrying on. So I plan to keep exploring, experimenting and challenging myself to keep taking my best picture but most of all to keep enjoying it.
And that has been the best thing about those 600 weeks, the enjoyment and the joy in my own work but in sharing it with others and seeing them explore and create their own journeys too.
I took this image a few weeks ago with this post in mind. I knew I wanted to do something special outdoors to celebrate. Taking self portraits out in the world has become my thing and so it seemed right to honour week 600 with an outdoor image. I knew the woods I wanted to go to but the rest, how to create something different, or special, that was missing but then one day out walking we found this mirror which someone had set out with their bins. I carried it all the way home and a couple of weeks later carried it into the woods with me.
The result was 4 images that I liked but this one stood out and felt like the perfect one for this week. It’s weird and spooky. I think it has a haunting witch like quality to it that feels very powerful to me right now. I could never have imaged taking a shot like this 600 weeks ago but here we are and I am proud of myself.
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