Self Portraiture

 Black and white self portait sitting in the rain outside in my backyard.
Black and white self portrait laying on a wooden floor wearing dark clothing.
Black and white bedroom self portrait. I am sitting on the floor wearing a lace bodysuit.
Close up self portrait of me laying on the ground looking up at the camera.
Black and white self portrait of myself reclining on a couch beside a bedroom window.
Black and white self portrait laying on the couch wearing a striped button up shirt.
Black and white Silhouette portrait of a caucasian woman in her 30s wearing a black dress.
Black and white studio self portrait of myself wearing a black lace body suit.
Black and white portrait of a caucasian woman in her 30s wearing a bra and pants and leaning on a wooden bench. The light is sculpting her body.

About This Project

 Self-portraits are a form of medicine for me.

They’re how I come back to myself when the world feels overwhelming — when masking, social expectations, and living in a society not designed for my autistic brain start to pile up. In these moments, the camera becomes a pause button. A temporary escape from performance, obligation, and rules about how I should exist.

When I photograph myself, I’m not trying to look a certain way. I’m not chasing beauty, trends, or perfection. I’m creating space to be completely myself — unfiltered, uncorrected, and uninterrupted. There are no social scripts to follow, no expectations to manage. Just my body, my emotions, and whatever wants to surface in that moment.

My self-portraits are less about styling and more about experience. I usually keep the clothing simple so the focus stays on emotion, movement, and presence. I’m interested in the quiet moments — the pauses, the in-between expressions, the parts of being human that don’t announce themselves loudly but carry weight.

This work is also how I process the world through an autistic lens. It allows me to explore sensitivity, intensity, softness, strength, and contradiction — all at once. Through self-portraiture, I’ve learned to see beauty in my own stillness, my intensity, and my way of moving through the world. It’s not about fixing myself or becoming someone else. It’s about witnessing myself honestly.

Practically, this work sharpens me as a photographer. By being in front of the camera again and again, I stay deeply aware of how vulnerable it is to be photographed in real time. I know how difficult it can be to let go, to trust the process, and to allow something authentic to emerge without forcing it. That awareness directly shapes how I photograph others. I don’t rush people. I don’t over-direct. I give space, because I know how much space matters.

These self-portraits are not performances. They’re moments I’ve stepped into and recorded — fragments of experience, not finished statements. They reflect how I see, how I feel, and how I practice photography as both an art form and a way of staying connected to myself.

This is where my work begin

Category
Featured, Self Portraiture
Tags
artistic self portrait, authentic self expression, autism and art, autistic artist, canadian fine art photographer, cinematic self portrait, conceptual self portrait, contemporary canadian photographer, contemporary self portrait, embodied self portrait, emotional self portrait, expressive self portrait, fine art self portrait, neurodivergent creativity, ottawa fine art photographer, self portrait photography, sensory aware photography, unmasked self portrait