In my Digital Photography class, my professor told me I had a knack for self portraits. When I envisioned my self portraits, I always wanted them to tell a story and to create a character or persona of some sort. I also enjoyed the final project, which was a photo essay. I liked how personal I made the photo essay and enjoyed the photos I created. I’m pretty set on the idea that I want my project to be a photo essay, so the three ideas I’m about to pitch are about the subject matter of it.

My first idea is to do a bodybuilding photoshoot. Health, fitness, and bodybuilding is a huge passion of mine and I’ve always wanted to prepare for a bodybuilding shoot. I just never had the money to hire a professional. This idea would allow me to pursue my passion while also maintaining that personal touch as mentioned before about the previous photo essay. I want the photos to showcase the aesthetics of my body and to be very vulnerable. There are some logistical issues I might run into, though, such as finding a gym that would allow me to shoot photos. Ideally, I would have to find a private gym that has a posing room or a studio with open space. 

The second idea I have is another photoshoot, but instead change the focus to fashion instead of bodybuilding. This is more along the lines of what I did in digital photography class with my previous self portraits. I really like fashion and style, so this idea would allow me to have fun and pretend I’m a model for my favorite clothing brands.

The third and final idea I have for the photo essay is to not take self portraits at all and take pictures of the foods I eat. Nutrition is really important for bodybuilding and I like to have fun with the foods I cook. I want to show people that eating healthy can be fun and you don’t have to sacrifice taste for health. People also love pictures of food (“food porn”) so it’s a topic that would be well received.