Description

Enjoy Your Special Day!

Birthdays

Through self-portraiture, I want to explore the relationship between me and my birthday. I feel that while my feelings towards my birthday is not uncommon, it is not talked about very much. I think the pressures of trying to make your birthday be this unrealistic fantastic day has created this weird attitude I have towards it. The reason I want to explore this topic is because I was inspired by all of the self-photoshoots people were having in their own homes during quarantine. I want to create stills that depict some of the feelings I have towards my birthday and show what people don’t tend to post or show others on their special day.

In a way, this project can be seen as a criticism of the celebration as there are many expectations and can result in an isolating day. Many people seemed to have experienced this loneliness during COVID, but for many that is the case every year. Personally, COVID did not have much of an affect on how I ended up “celebrating” the day, besides being able to go out to a restaurant and having a birthday dinner with family. While some memories of this day remain special to me, many of them remain memorable for not-so-good reasons. In a way it is a bittersweet feeling because you get all this attention, but at the same time it is only a special day for the individual which makes it isolating at times. I think a big part of the disappointment I end up feeling is due to the milestone birthdays at the ages of 16,18, and 21 which I have now gone through.

Outcomes

Through this project, I hope to create 7 images that depict a narrative of how my birthday normally looks like or how I tend to feel on those days. I want to create a set of photos that tell a story in a cinematic way and help me explore different methods in order to get the results that I want.

Methods and Materials

I mainly plan on shooting these photos in my room and public spaces using a tripod. I will be relying on natural and artificial indoor lighting for my photos. Some props I may end up using are birthday hats and cake/cupcake, typical birthday decorations. I really liked my results from the apparatus project, so I intend on using similar methods in order to get the film still effect which I think will narrate my images better.

References

Sam Levy (Cinematographer)

Roger Deakins (Cinematographer)

Ian Howorth (Film Photographer)