First of all, I want to thank you all for the great submissions this time around. I received a lot more for this contest and that made me really happy! I’ve picked my top three favorites, I received a couple of stories/comments, and some great variety in photos which I also wanted to highlight.

The Winners

Winner: First Place

Congratulations HRH Ken!  Ken won himself a shiny new Holga TLR and some rolls of mystery film from Four Corner Store! As well, he will be featured on my blog in the upcoming months.

Winner: Second Place

And Doktor Z. said:
I ‘ve never made any portrait of myself. Not that I was intimidated or something, but I just didn’t feel the pretension of finding me interesting enough to lay my image on film.

Self portrait always appeared to me like some kind of egocentrism, or narcissism. I mean, I can see my reflection in the mirror everyday and I know what I look like so there is no big deal of having pictures of myself… On the other hand I prefer shoot other people because you can get more control on the picture you want to get, and it’s easier when the viewfinder is on your side

That was my point of view before I read Jennifer’s article on Holgablog.com.

Then I understood that I missed something, that self portraiture wasn’t quite so I though it was. You only put yourself in front of the camera, try something and see what happens! When I started in Holga photography I was seduced by its lack of perfectibility and its randomness. I realised it was basically the same with more imperfectibility and more randomness!!! So I had to give it a try. Now that I did I have to admit it is a different sensation and I do enjoy it! The result turned out to be very different from what I expected, but I am really satisfied anyway.

I like challenges because it brings you where you would have never gone by yourself while putting your creativity to the test. Thank you Jen for daring Holgagraphers and giving them the opportunity to out limit themselves!

Doktor Z. wins a Holga Micro 110 and some film from Four Corner Store!

Winner: Third Place

This is just awesome and made me smile!  Nate wins a pack of Fuji Pro 120 Film from Four Corner Store!

Overcoming the Challenge

I had also asked for stories on how people view self portraiture and how they’ve over come the fear, if they had any, of taking them. I’d like to thank Doktor Z. (above) and Isabel (below) for taking the time to do so!  Isabel wins a free 8×8 print of her choice from my portfolio.

Isabel said:
My main fear about self-portraits is not whether I will look good or not. Is more or less the same fear, the same expectation that comes with taking film photographs: I don’t know what will come out at all. Will the pics turn out great? Will they be boring? Will the parallax error mess them up?

So taking this self-portrait and seeing it turn out so good is helping me overcome the fear of film photography in general. I am starting to appreciate imperfection. I am beginning to not give a damn about what comes out. I mean, look at this picture! The black spots happened because the sponge inside my 120 camera (the one that keeps the roll in place) broke mid-roll and got tangled in it as I wound it. It seems the developing chemicals broke the sponge down and it looks as if the little pieces “melted” and got stuck to some parts of the negative, creating this wonderful effect.

So this picture has helped me overcome any preconceptions about what a good, beautiful picture is. Just as in people’s physical beauty, there are no ugly pictures, just some are more magical than others.

More Self Portraits

There were so many good entries, I felt like I needed to show off some of the diverse photos that were submitted.  So, here are a few more great shots:

by Marcus Lindqvist
A good thing with shooting your own face is, you are always there and willing to cooperate. My strongest tip is: shoot only parts of yourself. Make it abstract. That’ll make it easier because there will be no embarrassing looks.

by Carl Zoch

I hope you all had as much fun as I did!  Thank you again, and keep practicing those self portraits – you never know when we will have another contest!

~HolgaJen