For my final project I decided to go for a topic that many don’t often think about but it’s an issue with many or most individuals. I based it from an Article called “My Radical Realization About Self-Love” by Jordan Lejuwaan. The article will be attached below. The article was basically about how the writer personally went through issues keeping authentic relationships with friends and family due to the issue truly being within himself. He didn’t love himself which cause him to act different and unhappy. H also couldn’t love anyone else if he didn’t know how to love himself. He also mentions many other issues that came along because of the lack of self love.
What my project focused on are some of the exercises he gave that helped him and other readers. The two excercises I chose to focus on for the shoot were the mirror and hugging yourself exercises. Here’s a brief description about them.
1. Mirror exercise
Get close to the mirror, no more than a foot away. Stare deep into your eyes for 2 minutes. Not in the way that you normally look at yourself in the mirror — actively become aware that this is you. Once that strange sensation comes over you, repeat the words ‘I love you’ out loud for a minute.
2. Hug yourself
This sounds really silly, but it feels fantastic. Reach your hands as far around you as possible and squeeze. Hold this for a minute or two while repeating ‘I love you’ and really feeling it. Focus your awareness on the area around your heart.
3. Reverse Each Criticism
Whenever you hear yourself criticizing yourself, immediately follow it up with two compliments, ideally but not necessarily related to the criticism.
4. Loving Meditation
Feeling love towards others is a good way to ramp up towards showing love to yourself. Go through the people you care most about in your mind and send them love. Picturing yourself giving them a huge hug. Wish them a fantastic day and the fulfillment of the dreams most dear to them. After you’ve gone through your family and closest friends, do the same for yourself.
5. Personal Day
If you have issues with valuing your own time, pick one day a week to focus entirely on yourself. Take the extra time to make the food you love the most, take an extra long shower, sleep in, etc. Show yourself love just like you would your significant other.
On my first session I decided to follow my schedule which was to focus on exercises for loving yourself. I chose about 5 or 6 models to work with and told them to hug them selves and feeling genuinely happy about it. I told them to smile and look relaxed but that’s when the challenge came. My models felt awkward hugging themselves and a bit silly. This made me notice the article was a serious topic because just the assignment itself made them feel uncomfortable. I completely understand because I include myself in that list, even I feel a bit odd doing the assignment. My solution was to make someone distract my models and make them laugh which is how I took photos of my models genuinely expressing happiness instead of a simple pose.
My second session I focused on working with a prop which was a handheld mirror. I decided to go for the second exercise in the article. My models just looked in the mirror and smiled. My only challenge with this shoot was figuring out how to light the model properly in order for the reflection in the mirror to not look over or under exposed. The professor helped me figure it out with a separate light directed towards my models face besides the soft key light already facing the model in the opposite direction.
1st session
Fragmented – models hugging
themselves smiling
– models in meditation smiling
2nd session
Fragmented w. Prop
(Handout held mirror)
Fragmented – models looking in mirror smiling
– models making silly faces
Article link:
