PHOTO PROJECT: Shoot Yourself

UPDATE: The entry form is closed! I've posted our stunning results at “66 Faces of Photography“.

Headshot

DISCLAIMER: Don't really shoot yourself — it's dangerous. Instead, you should photograph yourself. Martin and I take no responsibility if you take the project title the wrong way.

It's that time again… yes indeed, time for another fun project! This is a joint project with the very talented Martin Gommel, and it's open to anybody with a photography blog, a photoblog, or a photo-sharing account like Flickr or Zooomr. Before we get into the goals for the project, here are the requirements.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

  • Take a self portrait and include your camera in the frame.
  • Post your photo on your photography blog or photoblog.
  • OPTIONAL: Translate the project requirements to your blog's native language and post it on your blog
  • Go to the form at the bottom of this page and send me your name, email (kept private), and link to your project entry.

Now, I realize that not everybody has a photography blog that they can post to, so this project will also be open to those with Flickr or Zooomr accounts (or any others that you might use). Just send me the link to the page with your photo!

DEADLINE: JANUARY 6TH, 2008

LIMIT ONE ENTRY PER PERSON, NOT PER SITE! Your blog should be primarily oriented toward photography, otherwise use a photo-sharing site for your entry.

I'll be displaying the first 8 entries at the bottom of this page as they come in, so other participants can get a few ideas for their own photo. So be quick about it and ensure that you get some extra exposure.

WHAT'S THE POINT OF THIS PROJECT?

Some months ago, Martin Gommel (the guy in the photo at the top of the page) came to me with a concept of starting a project that could connect photography bloggers and photographers on a more global scale. So after a few emails, we landed on the idea of self-portraits that included our cameras.

Photos aren't bound by the walls of language or nationality. We can all see, interpret, and understand each other's images even if we don't speak the same language. We don't know what kind of reach this project may have, but we wanted to make sure that anybody from any place could participate — and everybody could enjoy viewing the results.

The reason we've chosen to go with the “self-portrait” aspect is because we often remain hidden behind our blogs, galleries, or Flickr accounts. People associate us with a photo, a logo, or a writing style rather than a face. This is a chance to show yourself to your onlookers, and to show them that you're very much human just like everybody else. We want you to include your camera in the photo to show that we're all photographers and we all use different tools to create our images. It's also a chance for you to get creative with your camera and do something you normally wouldn't do.

We're limiting the blog portion of the project to photography blogs and photoblogs because we would also like to put together a nice resource list of photography sites out there, displayed in a neat little mosaic of self portraits. I ran a similar thing a while ago (but I only asked for links rather than self portraits), and I had a whole ton of readers (59) pipe-up about their websites. So hopefully we'll get a lot of participation this time around too.

OTHER PROJECT DETAILS

This is the main project page, including the official rules and entry form. If you translate this page to a different language, send participants here to fill out the entry form and let them know what needs to go in each field if it's not obvious.

Martin and I will check out the entries as they come in to verify that the project requirements are being fulfilled — if they're not, we'll get in touch with you. I'll be grabbing a copy of your image, square-cropping it, and downsizing it to 120 pixels as shown below. The picture will link to your project entry so people can see the larger image. DO post something larger than 120 pixels on your site — the point of the project is to see who you are.

Trevor CarpenterHitesh SawlaniNeil CreekChris RawlinsRemovedLuis CruzNeil GallowayStephanie Dodson

Like I said, the first 8 entries will be posted on this page permanently, in addition to the final project page. Blog entries will appear in the first group of images on the results page, and entries hosted on photo-sharing sites will be in a second group of images.

The final list will be published on January 9th, 2008. I'll then email all of the participants the 120 pixel images and the html code in case you want to republish the results for your readers.

PROJECT ENTRY FORM

Just fill it out, hit the button, and wait for my reply. One entry per person! So pick your best site if you have more than one. In the “Link” box, give me the link to your page with the photo — not the home page.

You're too late, it's over!