From September 13 to November 11 photographic self-portraits will be on exhibit in the Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center  (D lobby), located on the corner of 7th Avenue and 27th St. They are the works of members of the Photography Club.

“For the past 18 years I have been a d.j. Whenever I’ve been alone, I’ve played records and recorded myself.  I’ve never thrown away a recording and now have thousands of mixes on reel-to-reel tapes, cassettes, mini discs, CDs and digital files.  I have in a sense, been creating self-portraits. Every recording captured a moment in my life, who I was at different periods throughout the years.”

“My interest has now shifted to photography and I’ve been concentrating on self-portraits again, but this time in a visual format. After all of these years of music playing in my ears, when I take photos,  sometimes for 10 hours at a time, I shoot in complete silence.

“I start with my surroundings, maybe a familiar place in my neighborhood. In a glimpse, I see the beauty of something quite ordinary and the space becomes my stage, a jumping off point for my imagination.  I run with my tripod, grab my camera and photograph myself. I pose without any thought, only instinct. I put myself in irrational inexplicable poses and places.

“When I look at the images afterwards, they  make sense to me. They reflect the inner depths of who I am. Subconscious feelings unintentionally come out in my photos. It’s a fascinating journey.”

Text and photo by Alison Tara, Photo club member.