I recently found a photograph of myself in college, probably around 1990. It’s not just any photograph – it’s a self-portrait, a black and white picture I did as a project in a darkroom photography class. I’m in my apartment in Boston, sitting cross-legged on the floor, in front of more than a hundred books arranged in stacked black plastic crate bookshelves. I see "Ulysses," "The Madwoman in the Attic," a lot of Virginia Woolf. I saw myself – I still see myself – as a reader, someone who loves to – literally — be surrounded by books. Like many self-portraits, it’s very self-conscious while being real – an English major in her natural habitat.
Today, college-aged students and the rest of us take selfies, to show who we think we are, or capture a moment. We smoosh together on family trips and one of our kids stretches an arm out for a photo of all of us. One of the most popular self-portraits for teenagers seems to be the portrait within the portrait – a photo taken in front of a mirror. And then they are posted on social media, for all to see. Throughout times, painters too have made self-portraits, from Vincent Van Gogh to Rembrandt, and Frida Kahlo. It’s fascinating to look at portraits, as we do in this weekend’s re-airing of “Reframing the Portrait," as illustrations of history, class, politics, economics, and personal relationships.
When was the last time you took a picture, or painted one, of yourself? Who did you see?
– Shannon