“Each of us, as Whitman writes, does ‘..contain multitudes’. Contacting the jostling crowd of inner selves, giving them a chance to speak and to act, can greatly enrich our lives.” (Julia Cameron, “The Vein of Gold” page 87)
This work focuses on the initial 5 inner selves I recognised in 2001 together with one additional self in 2015. These 6 inner selves represent a large portion of my life. Some are very public and well recognised. Others I have kept hidden in the shadows as I tried to keep them from public view. However, there were times when they showed their face and I was surprised by my lack of control. Only 4 of the 6 inner selves will be recognised in this project.
Thanks to encouragement from Marie (my wife), this has developed from the initial work into a creative pursuit. My tentative first steps were a short poem followed by considering how to compose classical music to describe each of the characters. Each of these attempts stalled. However, since resuming my interest in photography, I have had this opportunity to use images to tell my story.
I believe photography can be a healing tool to improve my life for the better. This topic has “fermented” for over 16 years. These images will be created as a self-development exercise to enable my inner selves a chance to speak and act. It is only through accepting their existence and giving them space to express themselves that I can lessen the surprises they sometimes hold in store for me.
All images will begin as photographs before being manipulated in Photoshop to produce prints reflecting the vision I hold for each of my inner selves. The artistic challenge will be in portrait making and using Photoshop to tell the story by combining multiple images. Overall, I hope this project will enrich my life and give me more acceptance of these inner selves (particularly the ones I attempt to keep hidden) as well as further develop my artistic skills in photography.
