anti:freeze

my entry for this week's photo friday: self-portrait

When I think about self-portraits, I think about surveillance, how we consent to the creation of an intimate portrait every day, just by crossing a bridge or pushing open the glass doors at the bank. It is a little like using the timer on a fancy camera, knowing exactly where the lens is pointed, where the line is drawn, and crossing it, walking willingly into the picture. We are collaborators - consciously or unconsciously - in our own surveillance, and therefore, we are also creating self-portraits.

Is this true if you don't know the video camera is rolling? If you are unaware of the level of everyday surveillance? Or is ignorance another form of collaboration?

Once you start paying attention, you notice cameras everywhere.

I like the idea of independent surveillance, how I have trumped the parking lot cameras by snapping my own picture. The surveillance of the lot is now under surveillance.