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While 98% of my photos don't have living beings in them at all, there are times when I get the urge to photograph myself. Usually it's because something about the scenery matches my mood. Usually I hand the camera to Mr. Risk and tell him how I want the image framed and what I want. Many times the pictures don't work because I'm not comfortable posing. My eyes are either closed or I look incredibly stiff.

However there are many people who predominantly take self-portraits. So this morning I was wondering why I like some and not others. Generally, I think it comes down to honesty. While I don't expect every self-portrait to be an accurate representation of the person -- there are plenty of other good reasons why people take photos of themselves -- what I don't like are images in which the person's intent was to "look good" and nothing beyond that. I see that kind of photo as being dishonest. No matter how shallow you might think a person is, there is always something more than that inside them. When I look at a photo of any living being I want to see some kind of emotion... it can be happy, sad, or even totally posed... I just want to see some spark of humanity there. When the photo is a self-portrait and that spark of life isn't there, I especially feel like I'm being lied to... that they want me to accept that this is all they are.



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