The artist we've chosen to spotlight for the self portrait theme is beautiful, talented Diana Chende. We love her inspirational approach to self portraits, the fantastic ideas she comes up with (you'll want to check out that toilet one!) as well as her commitment to the p52clicks project. Read on to learn about her journey and sources of inspiration, plus her top tips for getting started with self portraiture, which as we all know can be so daunting!
Abi xx
Tell us about your photography journey...
I first got into photography, just as I was coming out of my maternity leave, at the beginning of 2020. I didn’t know at the time, but I was struggling with post-partum depression and photography was the first glimpse of joy, other than my son, that had helped pull me out of the darkness. I got into it through a wonderful platform called Photography for Parents where I learned everything from scratch: how to shoot in priority modes, how to shoot in manual, how to edit, rules of composition, storytelling, everything a beginner and intermediate student of photography might be looking at.
Tell us a bit about your style...
I think I am still finding my style. My number one source of inspiration, muse, subject of most of my photos is my son. I love documenting his childhood as it unfolds before my eyes, almost documentary style. I now know that so many female photographers started their journey in a similar way. However, I am also drawn to those semi-planned, semi-posed shots where I think of the props included, the colours used, the poses. My 3-year-old son is not always receptive to me posing him, actually never, so if I wanted more autonomy of the subject’s pose, I had to turn to an adult. Because I was still learning, I still am, and I didn’t feel confident enough to pose another adult I turned to self-portraits. It’s funny to think how self-conscious and awkward and painful I found those first self-portraits. In my head they were not far off from selfies, which I always disliked. But now I truly embrace the cathartic process that a self-portrait can bring. From revealing something about myself, my likes, my dislikes, my story, what makes me who I am, to looking fully in a mirror and not recoiling in horror. Self-portraits can be therapeutical, and I am here for them.
What gear do you use?
For the longest time I only had my Nikon D750 and my nifty-fifty. This year I have added a 35mm and an 85mm to my arsenal and I now refer to my three prime lenses as my photographic holy trinity.
What's your go to lens and why?
They don’t call it the nifty-fifty for nothing. Although, I was forced to shoot only with my 50mm prime because I didn’t have anything else, I think I’ve also truly fallen in love with that lens because it became so versatile for all sorts of shots I did, be it indoors, outdoors, spontaneous or planned.
Who and what inspires you?
‘We are the sum of all people we have ever met.’ This rings true in my photography journey, as well. I continue to be inspired by my first mentor from Photography for Parents, by the awe-inspiring Meg Loeks that everyone admires, by so many talented friends I have met through photography and I look up to. I am also inspired by films, books, quotations, props… In my most recent self-portrait, I started with the props first. I had recently bought a quill in Stratford upon Avon, and I really wanted to include it in a photo. I then remembered a few years back I had also purchased a waxing seal with my initials and wax in a little shop in Venice. I then dug out a lace mask also bought in Venice. Gradually, a story was emerging about a possible character. I dressed in a black evening gown and surrounded by my props I pretended to be writing a very difficult letter. Because so many of my props had an Italian link, I even wrote the first words in my letter in Italian. I was quite pleased with the result because it succeeded in creating that sense of intrigue that I was after.
What tips do you have for shooting self portraits?
If the thought of a self-portrait makes you uncomfortable, which it certainly did me at first, start small. You could do a faceless self-portrait. My first attempts into self-portraits, I was definitely always concealed behind a prop: my hair, a mask, a book, some flowers…You could just photograph your hands doing something. As you gain confidence, maybe show us a little bit of your likes, what makes you comfortable or happy. I defy anyone who cannot relax at least somewhat, when they are surrounded by things that they love. You could set the interval timer on your camera and you just go about your business: be it reading a book in your favourite corner, knitting, cooking, running, ballet dancing on a beach. I promise you the process will gradually unleash something inside you. Let’s just say that in one of my self-portraits I even posed on the toilet with my son. I’m not saying that should be your aim, but I am saying that it was a process and because of all the previous self-portrait work I had done, when it came to documenting that well-known phase in a toddler’s life when they won’t even consider being separate from their mama when she needs to go to the toilet, I was happy I could capture that for a time in the future when this will all seem so lost in the past.
What self portrait image are you most proud of and/or love the most and why?
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE all the photos of my son, because mummy goggles. But most proud of? I would have to say I am most proud of my self-portraits. Why? Not because of some narcissistic need, but because in shooting self-portraits I found my way back to myself. I gained in confidence. It encouraged a lot of introspection when I was trying to figure out what I was trying to say with a self-portrait, rather than the obvious ‘Look at my cute son, doing adorable toddler stuff.’ I am most proud of my self-portrait as a ballerina on the beach, for several reasons: I used to do ballet to a professional standard many years ago, but I have almost no pictures from that period of my life, so it was nice to re-create an image of that long-forgotten persona of mine; that same portrait was also published in the last Elements edition of THIS DETAILED LIFE magazine. Also, I love my toilet self-portrait because I really wanted to capture that phase and because the response to that self-portrait was so overwhelming with pretty much everyone saying how they could relate, or how well they remember it.
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