I really enjoyed this project, but it was just my luck that the photographic self-portrait project was assigned and due right after I had my wisdom teeth taken out. My jaw was four times its usual size! I waited out the swelling for a few days and settled for the slightly swollen jawline. It turned out to be a fun challenge, though.

I used my phone to capture all of these photos. I had a wacky set up in my basement for this project. I fiddled with taping flashlights to poles, putting orange and blue scarves over light sources, clamping a desk lamp onto the side of the backdrop, and stacking my phone on top of a small tripod and a precariously unsteady pile of stacked books.

The results I got:

1. My favorite, titled “The Evil Queen.” I played with a mirror in this one. I liked that it showed two different versions of my face, the side profile as well as the straight on face from the mirror. I think both the eye contact from the mirror and the black and white added to the striking effect. I also liked the circle of eye contact between the photo and the viewer; the viewer looks at the profiled image, the profiled image looks at the face in the mirror, and the face in the mirror stares at the viewer.
2. I was playing with light in the photo using different colors. I ended up using orange/pink light on just the side of my face, and holding a blue-taped over flashlight up and in front of my face. I liked the contrasting colors.
3. The black and white photo with the face toward the ceiling was chosen because I liked the line of the hair going down and the side profile. I thought the light highlighting the hairline looked interesting.
4. The black and white photo of me staring at the camera was chosen because it looks slightly troubling in expression and intensity, and that eeriness echoed how I felt when I looked at my swollen jaw at the time, which was starting to look more normal, but still wasn’t my face as I know it. I was trying to feed into that effect.