18 Stunning Self Portraits
This post is by Anna Gay – creator of our eBook – The Art of Self Portraiture.
by Ali Uher
For thousands of years, artists have used self-portraiture as a means of perfecting their technique. From ancient cavemen, to the classical masters, to Salvador Dali in the 20th century, artists have looked to self-portraiture not only to discover new aspects of their artform, but also as a means of self-discovery.
Today, photographers world-wide are stepping out from behind the camera, and placing themselves in front of the lens. Thanks to photo-sharing websites that display thousands of beautiful and unique self-portraits, many photographers are finding that not only is self-portraiture a wonderful, exhiliarating way to practice composition and lighting – amongst many other skills which are valuable to portrait photographers – it is an honest expression of self, and a way to share their experiences with other photographers.
Each of the photographers whose work is featured in this post has their own unique way of expressing themselves in front of the camera. Some use natural light, while others use studio lighting. Some take a more natural approach to post-processing, whereas others take a more conceptual route. Whether you consider yourself an amatuer, or a full-blown artistic self-portrait photographer, these self-portraits are sure to inspire you to step in front of the lens.
by Lila Limited
by Kelly Kardos
by Brian Day
by Boy_Wonder
by Miguel da Silva
by Bunny Spice
by ICT_Photo
by Zack Ahern
by Misha
by Viva Deva
by Steve Pontbriand
by *iNiNa*
by Zee Anna!
by KatB Photography
by FaceNorth
by sparkleplenty_fotos
by Lucem
Interested in improving your Self Portrait Photography? Check out Anna Gay’s eBook – The Art of Self Portraiture.
47 Responses to “18 Stunning Self Portraits” - Add Yours
May 26th, 2011 at 12:51 am
Hi
Here is one of my own: http://kerstenbeckphotoart.wordpress.com/2011/03/18/a-photographers-vision/
May 26th, 2011 at 12:51 am
One of my favourite self-portraits is probably the first one ever, by Robert Cornelius: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cornelius
May 26th, 2011 at 1:04 am
Great post! My favorites are Brian Day’s and Miguel De Silva’s, hands down. Amazing work.
May 26th, 2011 at 1:31 am
this is amazing collection, thank you! i checked portfolios of some of these photographers and they’re amazing! i will definitely interview some of them on my site! thanks for inspiration.
here’s one of my selfportraits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/matabum/5650929346
May 26th, 2011 at 1:31 am
These are fantastic!
May 26th, 2011 at 2:05 am
Wonderful, inspiring collection. Thank you so much for including me.
May 26th, 2011 at 2:53 am
Enjoyed looking at these – thanks for posting. What cameras were the photographers using, and is there anything else they can share about how they took the photos?
May 26th, 2011 at 3:03 am
Hey guys these are two of me.
Zacks and Katb their photos are AMAZING!.
May 26th, 2011 at 5:01 am
brilliant work Anna! thank you so much for including me along with so many other talented photographers!
May 26th, 2011 at 9:58 pm
Beautiful stuff. Love the ones with the shoes and the school buses.
May 26th, 2011 at 11:02 pm
May 26th, 2011 at 11:38 pm
Great Collection, one day perhaps I may start doing self portraits.
May 27th, 2011 at 1:23 am
http://www.flickr.com/photos/csph/3340784677/in/set-72157615030980576
self portrati with my friend Simone on the back
May 27th, 2011 at 1:24 am
Anna, thank you so much for including me..can’t wit to go get inspired by these other amazing self portrait photographers…
xo
May 27th, 2011 at 1:40 am
So glad that Zach survived his suicide attempt so he could process and watermark his photo then post it here.
)
Some of them are truly amazing and inspirational. I especially like photos by Kelly, Boy_Wonder and Miguel – great job, folks! I’m leaning towards trying some self portraits but I’m not there yet.
May 27th, 2011 at 3:20 am
A great collection, inspiring.
May 27th, 2011 at 6:33 am
I think the best is Steve Pontbriand, I also liked Lucem.
May 27th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
Thank you all for your comments, there are some absolutely fantastic photographers featured here and I’m quite humbled to be a part of it. Someone commented wanting to know how some of these were shot or setup so here’s a setup shot for mine to help out! Thanks again everyone
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zackahern/4673192075/in/set-72157620843360830
May 27th, 2011 at 5:17 pm
All of them are fantastic…
May 27th, 2011 at 8:20 pm
These are some very inspirational self portraits!! Especially like Brian Day’s one.
This is my recent attempt at a selfy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/almostacrayon/5748536603/in/photostream
May 28th, 2011 at 6:05 am
Great article and very thought provoking. Self portraits is not something I’ve given much thought to. Thanks.
May 28th, 2011 at 11:51 pm
Some of these are really quite wonderful…miguel da silva/ bunny spice/ steve pontbriand…and the whole collection is really interesting. I tend to be more drawn to the close-up self-portraits- which is why I welcome even more the entire string with its different approaches.
Here’s a couple of my own self-portraits:
http://cutimages.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/afraid-to-go-to-war/
http://cutimages.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/long-in-black/
http://cutimages.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/on-the-pond/
May 30th, 2011 at 7:28 pm
Some of the photos seemed pretty dark. Stirring my emotions
May 31st, 2011 at 12:15 am
Wow some of these photos are quite epic…very well done , im not as good as they are but here isMy very first self portrait..tell me what you think!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1516006172370.2077271.1000943648#!/photo.php?fbid=1848186836679&set=a.1516006172370.2077271.1000943648&type=1&theater
May 31st, 2011 at 5:49 am
Great stuff! Here are some of my attempts:
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/13221712-md.jpg
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/13013096-md.jpg
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/13005979-md.jpg
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/13013092-md.jpg
June 2nd, 2011 at 10:57 am
love your picture….hope to take some thing like that
June 3rd, 2011 at 4:48 am
Thanks for sharing and inspiring everyone. All are truly inspiring – and different, unique aspects of self-expression.
June 10th, 2011 at 4:53 am
did not like the effort of zack ahern (bit sick really)
June 28th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
Hi,
I have also shared some thoughts in
http://sdigitalphotography.blogspot.com/
-Thanks
MaXX
June 28th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
Hi,
I have also shared some thoughts in
http://sdigitalphotography.blogspot.com/
http://sdigitalphotography.blogspot.com/2011/06/portrait-photography-tips.html
-Thanks
MaXX
August 11th, 2011 at 3:04 pm
https://picasaweb.google.com/114094516477471698263/WindTurbineFavorites#5507259744295478098
I think this is my best one.
December 9th, 2011 at 1:31 am
diz iz mine but i dont think it was gud shoot…..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yanti_desiana/6476813551/
December 29th, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Very interesting article, I put one of mine with greetings from Brittany and happy new year in advance !
http://www.netimago.com/images/bcWSEgl6hTLusF3.jpg
January 2nd, 2012 at 9:31 pm
Brain Day rocks my world. His Time Traveller series is utterly amazing
May 7th, 2012 at 8:42 pm
Hi,
I’m on my way trying to complete my first photographic project about self portrait “The 52 Self-Portrait Project” #52SPP
You are invited to take a look into my webpage, blog or fanpage at FB
- http://www.eduoliveros.es/personal.html
- http://eduoliveros.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/the-52-self-portrait-project/
- https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.341179139225781.89646.175308889146141&type=3
May 12th, 2013 at 3:46 am
Very diverse collection. I like the one with all the shoes in the street, and the macro shot of the person’s eye and the butterfly. I wonder how many takes it took to get that self-portrait right with such a shallow DoF!
I find it hard to make self-portraits, especially when I try and include my dog in the photo too as in this example:
http://jasoncollinphotography.com/blog/2012/8/6/using-a-collapsible-background-to-make-a-home-photography-st.html
You can also see my small home studio setup used to make the shot.
May 12th, 2013 at 2:52 pm
My favorite self portrait out of this group has got to be the one with all the shoes. At first glance it looks like a man standing in a crowd of pigeons .. then you realize they’re really shoes .. very cool shot.
May 13th, 2013 at 11:13 pm
http://500px.com/photo/33908993
May 16th, 2013 at 7:22 am
All of these are great. I really like the shots by Brian and Steve.
I’m really drawn to the red deck chair though, it’s very striking
May 17th, 2013 at 2:13 am
I’ve only taken one, but after taking this one, I’m looking forward to trying more…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/garybreashears/8546481815/in/photostream
May 17th, 2013 at 2:57 am
Like many photographers, I am not keen to get in front of the camera. Here are a couple of my self portraits:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tm90/8518855325/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tm90/8443060994/in/photostream
May 17th, 2013 at 8:21 am
http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/21120169@N06/8359645911/
This is a self portrait I took. I liked the light in a hotel room and had to shoot.
May 17th, 2013 at 5:14 pm
Agree with Vic !
The Cornelius self-portrait is absolutely the best one. Thank you for let me know it.
May 17th, 2013 at 6:31 pm
This is my best self-portrait after a year with my camera: http://www.flickr.com/photos/73353780@N04/8080982389/sizes/h/in/set-72157631754583470/
May 19th, 2013 at 3:40 am
I consider an artist to be a person who will create outside the norm. And all 18 stunning photographers did just that. They stunned.
I have no idea who set the parameters for what should be art. Is not beauty in the eye of the beholder?
Thank you for presenting these wonderful creative photographers. So motivating!
May 20th, 2013 at 6:47 pm
here is my self portrait pic….
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rrifani/8593817167/in/photostream
May 23rd, 2013 at 6:10 am
Here is one of my self portratis
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150989045170696&set=a.10150244985400696.476104.517710695&type=3&theater
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