Me time

The impressionistic rendering of the shadow of the photographer at work with their equipment in the vast empty space of this body of water is cleverly highlighted with the apparent solidity of the fold-up chair. The composition of the photograph is carefully balanced within the square format. Upon initial viewing this image appears to tell us very little about the particulars of the individual depicted. However, in addition to the composition and a wonderfully muted colour palette, the strength of this work, I feel, is in the metaphorical associations it encourages us to consider: about the transience of human existence set amongst a world teeming with material stuff and a ravaged natural environment.

This is a marvelous take on self-portraiture. I really admire the way this photographer has creatively constructed an overall image of their face by using the form and structure of the tree branches and sunlight depicted in the composite photographs. While we don't see facial features or other body parts clearly in any conventional sense, it seems to me that this self-portrait cleverly enables the viewer to daydream about the personality of the photographer as if staring out of a window looking onto a wood.

This self-portrait has been created with a great degree of technical prowess and flair. The hyper-saturation of the colour palette lends the image a quality of advertising imagery. The lens quality and depiction of detail is almost forensic, providing much for the viewer to scrutinise as they marvel at the reverberations of the punch registered across the photographer/subject's face. The blur effect in the depiction of the boxing glove, which seems to have been achieved either through the use of a slow shutter speed or through Photoshop, goes some way to heighten a sense of movement and impact. Consider lessening this effect slightly, especially where the glove hits the skin, in order to provide a more seamless image. A very creative self-portrait!

The exploration of ideas to do with the representation of women and the manufacture of the idealised feminine beauty are potent subject matter for self-portraiture. The selection and arrangement of the props on the surface of the dresser, and the creative use of colour and black and white work well to convey this theme. So too does the facial expression and gaze of the photographer/subject, who is well framed in the mirror. It's great to see self-portraiture used so thoughtfully to look beyond looking at one's own self.

The medium of photography is perhaps most uniquely defined by its continually renewed process of reinvention. This self-portrait of a photographer tells us almost as much about his equipment at the time of the creation of the image as it might do about anything else about the individual depicted, and this is what I think makes this a compelling self-portrait image. The composition appears to have been creatively and thoughtfully considered, from the marching forward of the tripod stands set amongst the legs of the photographer, to the inclusion of the torn edge of the backdrop that encapsulates and frames them all. This is a stylish and thoughtful self-portrait of a photographer and his studio.

By keeping the composition and staging sparse yet carefully thought through, and by using a black and white depiction, the photographer playfully, if somewhat darkly, sets a deceptively simple scene for us to overlay with our own interpretations. To my mind there is a striking quality to this image that appears to stab at art-historical traditions - such as the depiction of the upward gaze of Saint Sebastian - and the narratives of folk tales - such as the famed apple-shot of the William Tell legend. An imaginative and creative take on self-portraiture.

This is a remarkable self-portrait and an incredible landscape photograph expertly crafted within one tightly arranged yet well-balanced composition. The juxtaposition of a night sky teeming with astronomical wonder and the figure of the photographer/subject standing in its reflection within a seemingly vast body of water combines superbly. This self-portrait may be seen as a 'tabula rasa' upon which we can all see something of the minuteness of our own selves amongst the enormity of the universe.

This is a beguiling photograph that uses controlled lighting very well to convey a charged atmosphere that might be seen as foreboding. The gaze of the photographer/subject shoots out at us with an ambiguous stare, seemingly confrontational and contemplative at the same time. The exposure lends a painterly chiaroscuro to the image which is heightened by the highlight of the swirl of smoke. The composition is well-framed, the dimensions of the photograph encapsulate the subject with no space to spare, serving to draw us in closer to his lair. This is a self-portrait created with much style and cinematic flair.

This is a very interesting and creative take on self-portraiture. The meaning of the text in the image is not entirely clear and may be seen as undecipherable. Perhaps this was the desired effect. In any case, the use of text embedded in an image can be a potent way of providing further meaning. The symmetry and tiling of the abstract shapes rearranged in such a way as to suggest the shape of a face without actually depicting one provide the viewer with a highly engaging composition that is reminiscent of the pleasures of a kaleidoscope.

This unconventional take on creating a self-portrait immediately caught my eye. The composition of this image creatively uses the eye of the horse to evocatively frame the photographer/subject and the landscape they stand within, providing the viewer so much to look at and consider. As John Berger reminds us in his wonderful 2009 publication 'Why Look At Animals?', we as humans have had a long and complicated relationship with all animals, but especially horses. They were once at the centre of our everyday lives but are now marginalised and reduced to spectacle. What is the relationship of this photographer/subject to the horse? What does it tell us about who they are or how they see themselves?

This photograph seems to cleverly and humorously poke at the codification of what is thought of as socially acceptable behavior in public space. I think the very act of undertaking the making of this image in a waiting room in an airport - perhaps one of the most suffocatingly controlled 'public' spaces there is - says a great deal about the character and verve of the photographer/subject. The exposure of the black and white photograph works well in combination with the ambient lighting of the setting to render the self-portrait with the stage-light quality of a maverick contemporary dance performance.

The unusual camera angle and the hazy 1970s snapshot colour palette, the chlorophyll-fresh leaves and the sparkling light caught in the cobwebbed hair of the photographer/subject all coalesce to convey something of the freshness of spring. Yet this all seems to be belied by her facial expression. She seems to want to impart something altogether more serious or sombre. I find the juxtaposition of these qualities in this beautifully dreamy self-portrait beguiling . This image reminds me of the kind of photographs that got me interested in photography in the first place - the covers of albums by shoe-gazing indie bands of the early 1990s. I digress here, but isn't this the way a successful image points itself out to us?

This wonderfully playful photograph deftly flexes adroit digital manipulation skills to create a compelling self-portrait image. The sensation of falling is palpably depicted through the posture of the body and the serendipitously captured falling hat. The tunnel effect of the blurry vignette and shallow depth of field draw the eye right into the depths of this composition. There is a quality about this self-portrait photograph that convincingly speaks to the work of the surrealists, and their obsessions with the strange contradictions of reality and the worlds of dreams, in a fresh and exciting way.