zondag 22 januari 2012

How to: selfportrait for the Red Line project

Do you know the feeling when you have an idea in your mind, but you have absolutely no clue how to achieve it?
Well, yesterday I felt like that. And since the new year, my resolution has been not to let those feelings stop me; instead of going for the easy way out, changing the concept to something more simple, my resolution for this year is to start experimenting more thus trying to achieve even those impossible crazy -no-idea-where-to-begin-ideas.
For example: I've been meaning to join the Red Line project (http://didyousayeager.com/eager/en/redline) for a while.This is what it's about:
" Wouldn't it be cool to connect photographers all over the world? We think so. That's why we started this quest for the longest conceptual photo series ever!
The concept? A red line that connects us all in a graphical way, combined with our mutual love/hate feeling towards shooting a self-portrait. The red line forming an instrument to express yourself at that."

After contemplating for a while I came up with the idea of stitching the red line through my cheeks, in order to create a 'smile'. A tribute to The Joker from the Batman movies, and a 'f*ck you' to all those people always urging me -since childhood- to look more happy/smile more. ;)

But i had no idea how to create a realistic looking line actually being stitched through skin...(Also, I didn't have any red string, the closest was a pink embroidery thread so that would have to do).
My first attempt was to glue the thread onto my skin. Result: glue on camera, glue on hands, and having to move like a turtle to make the thread stay on my cheeks.
Well, in the end I ended up using parts of these images, but all of a sudden I thought about stitching the thread through paper, photographing that, and then digitally paste it over my skin. And it worked!
It did take me about the entire day though, but I am pretty happy about the more or less realistic result!
"Why so serious?" © Eva Krebbers
So, any photographers out there...feel free to join as well! :)