Self-Portraits
My “Failed” series exists to poke fun at myself and photography—mainly because I take both incredibly seriously and it is high time to release the demons that violently wake me up screaming for mercy in the night.
As for myself, there is tremendous pressure to be something, and I have certainly tried. I no longer am concerned with being an official anything. All of the images in this series have titles of professions, stereotypes, present states, etc., to highlight my futile efforts to be what I cannot. I am a mere character, just as are the rest of the lot you see here in my photographs. And this is okay.
As for photography, there is tremendous pressure to do something, and it better be important and relevant to contemporary society. These self- portraits are in no way intended to be Cindy Sherman-esque. They are not meant to be commentaries on female roles in society, but on labels we apply to ourselves to create meaning in our lives. This is relevant to me, for now. And that is okay.
So I say, “Hold on to what sanctity we have as individuals! Be silly, be candid, be the obsessive, oddball of the family and really enjoy it!”
But really, there are a heck of a lot of flowers out there, so...smell them.