Self Portrait Challenge~street photography

Today I just copied my post from my other blog and put it here for you, in case you want to comment on it. Though did you know you can now comment on Xanga even if you don't have an account over there?


As most anyone that reads this blog regularly knows, my camera is broken. Well, dead. My lovely friend Katie, who gave us the camera in the first place, is sending us her old one which is just like our dead one! How nice is that? In the mean time....it's kind of hard to participate in the self portrait challenge when I can't take any new photo's. I'm not sure why I even participate in SPC sometimes. I don't like looking at myself that much.

Sometimes I realize that I haven't looked at myself in a mirror all day. Really looked, at least. Do you know what I mean? I mean, when it comes to how I look I percieve myself to be pretty pitiful in that department. Most days I don't care...I don't think it's important as a woman to stand myself up to some ideal that's been created about wearing make up and having my hair done. And let me tell you, in Kansas there are a lot of bleached blondes w/ gobs of makeup. Of course, maybe that's just because I live in a college town. When I was younger I used to be all about coming up with crazy outfits...thrift store finds...matching up unmatchable items. Now it seems all I wear are jeans and a tshirt. I still think of things I want to wear. I bought tights to wear w/ some skirts I have, and I've never cracked open the package because I think where the hell am I going to wear this, and why wear it at home? But then other days I want to comply. I can't stand feeling ugly so I put on a little makeup. Or I take a good hard look in the mirror and vow to take better care of myself. I can't figure out why I feel this way. My sister's don't. They both use makeup daily and fix themselves up.

But SPC isn't necessarily about what you look like. There is an artistic element to it that often escapes me. Perhaps it is my lack of knowledge about taking a photo? I'm not sure...but I do know that I see some really incredible photo's via that site, and I'm often left wondering "how'dtheydothat?". And this month the topic is "street photography". I can already tell you not to expect much from me on this subject...or at least not what you might think of when given the topic. It has already painfully reminded me of how much I really don't get out and about too much. I have a three and a half year old boy w/ my almost every single second of the day for one and the idea of trying to take a photo of us or me out in public on a street seems rather impossible. But hey, you never know. I don't live in a big city, so the local wildlife isn't that interesting. (I already mentioned it's blondeness) Oh, and I don't even have a camera. It would probably be a good thing for me to use this as an excuse to get out of my comfort zone, if I get the camera in time. Of course it will have to quit raining then too. I think. For now I give you the one photo I could find that sort of semi fit the bill. R. took this about a month or so ago as H. and I were playing at the playground. I like all the lines created by the equipment, the movement of both of us, and the fact that this pic makes my legs look rather skinny. Oh, and I actually "fixed" my hair. Trust me...a couple of ponytails in my hair is me trying to do something about my normal slovenly state. Oh, I also like my purple shoes in contrast to the rest of the color in this shot.

If you want to see some really interesting photo's, I highly recommend you go check out other SPC's right here. Browse awhile if you have nothing better to do.