The third showing of my Defining Ourselves photography exhibit closed at the Light Gallery in Baltimore. This exhibit has grown into something larger than I had foreseen and it has evolved in a way I hadn’t anticipated. Yes, I am the photographer but it is not just my exhibit. The words of the participants are as important as the portraits I took of them. In fact, the portraits, in most cases, are collaborative.
I met with the subjects and we worked together to come up with a portrait that illustrated their self-definitions. It was difficult for me because I’m used to photographing to please myself and now there were two of us to consider.
For these portraits, I had to think of the words and get feedback from the people I photographed. Obviously, some people had more input than others. Some people said, “Tell me how you want me to pose.” Others said, “Let’s try something like this.” In one case, the subject said, “This is the way I want to illustrate my definition.” For the portrait above, I used Connie Imboden's studio and method to photograph her. Not so easy to step into somebody else's vision!
If you’d like to see a slideshow of just the portraits, without the definitions, check it out here. (Turn on your speaker to hear music by Kevin Robinson.) Next showing of Defining Ourselves will be this summer in Alexandria, Virginia.
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Today, I just read a blog that David Byrne wrote about his musical collaboration. He talks about the benefits of collaboration and makes some thoughtful points. I’m including part of his writing below. If you want to read more, click here.
"Why collaborate at all? One could conceivably make more money not sharing the profits — if there are any — so why collaborate if one doesn’t have to? If one can write alone, why reach out? (Some of the most financially successful songs I’ve ever written were not collaborations, for example.) And besides, isn’t it risky? Suppose you don’t get along? Suppose the other person decides to take the thing in some ugly direction?
"Well, as I said earlier, one big reason is to restrict one’s own freedom in the writing process. There’s a joy and relief in being limited, restrained. For starters, to let someone else make half the decisions, or some big part of them, absolves one of the need to explore endless musical possibilities. The result is fewer agonizing decisions in the writing process, and sometimes, faster results.
"Another reason to risk it is that others often have ideas outside and beyond what one would come up with oneself. To have one’s work responded to by another mind, or to have to stretch one’s own creative muscles to accommodate someone else’s muse, is a satisfying exercise. It gets us outside of our self-created boxes. When it works, the surprising result produces some kind of endorphin equivalent that is a kind of creative high. Collaborators sometimes rein in one’s more obnoxious tendencies too, which is yet another plus........
....... "But one might also ask: Is writing ever NOT collaboration? Doesn’t one collaborate with oneself, in a sense? Don’t we access different aspects of ourselves, different characters and attitudes and then, when they’ve had their say, switch hats and take a more distanced and critical view — editing and structuring our other half’s outpourings? Isn’t the end product sort of the result of two sides collaborating? Surely I’m not the only one who does this?"
Have a heartThe opening reception of my Defining Ourselves exhibit, the third showing, took place Friday, January 15, 2010, at the Light Gallery, 1015 North Charles St. in Baltimore. It was phenomenal! The exhibit seemed to have sparked intriguing conversation during those two hours. Kevin Robinson provided some live music and those who attended offered energy to the occasion.
David told everyone that, if they had to make a choice, they should donate toward relief efforts in Haiti rather than buying my art. I agree with him. Although making money is a positive thing, helping others is much more important.
Photography exhibit opens in Baltimore, a two-year international and multi-generational photo and word project examining who we are
Opening reception Friday, January 15, 7-9 p.m. at the Light Gallery, 1015 North Charles St., Baltimore.
For two years, I challenged people to answer the question, "How do you define yourself?" The answer had to be just one sentence beginning with the words, "I am..." Answers were followed by defining portrait photos. She received nearly 100 responses from people ages 4 to 100, representing 14 countries.
See a preview of the portraits without the words here:
A unique exhibit where words are as important as photos
MyDefining Ourselves exhibit will soon be in its third showing but this time in Baltimore.
For two years, I challenged people to answer the question, "How do you define yourself?’" The answer had to be just one sentence beginning with the words, ‘I am.’” Answers were followed by defining portrait photos. I received nearly 100 responses from people ages 4 to 100, representing more than a dozen countries.
Selected photos from this project will be shown at the Light Gallery located at 1015 N. Charles St. from January 15 – March 12
Opening Reception: January 15th from 7-9 pm with jazz musician Kevin Robinson
Closing Reception: March 12th from 7-9 pm featuring an artist talk by Bonnie Schupp and live music
See this video for a preview without the words. Turn on your sound. Put your cursor over the picture and then to the right below the picture, and click on HQ for High Quality (high resolution) to see it at its best:
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Below are some quotations on the theme of knowing who we are that you might find thought provoking:
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~ Dr. Seuss
Find out who you are, and do it on purpose. (?)
Until you make peace with who you are, you'll never be content with what you have. ~ Doris Martman
Know, first, who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly. ~ Epictetus, Roman (Greek-born) slave & Stoic philosopher (55 AD - 135 AD)
Be what you are. This is the first step toward becoming better than you are. ~ Julius Charles Hare
Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you." ~ Thomas Jefferson ?
You were born an original. Don't die a copy. ~ John Mason
To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. ~e.e. cummings, 1955
We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. ~Kurt Vonnegut
We don't know who we are until we see what we can do. ~ Martha Grimes
When you know who you truly are, there is an abiding alive sense of peace. You could call it joy because that's what joy is: vibrantly alive peace. (?)
It is the joy of knowing yourself as the very life essence before life takes on form. That is the joy of Being - of being who you truly are. ~ Stillness Speaks, EckhartTolle
All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naïve. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: that I am nobody but myself. ~ Battle Royal, Ralph Ellison
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. ~Judy Garland
I am told to just be myself, but as much as I have practiced the impression, I am still no good at it. ~Robert Brault
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~ e.e. cummings
I think of life itself now as a wonderful play that I've written for myself, and so my purpose is to have the utmost fun playing my part. ~ Shirley MacLaine
Wherever you go, go with all your heart. ~ Confucius
Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you? ~ Fanny Brice
Every time you don't follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness. ~ Shakti Gawain
Originality is... a by-product of sincerity. ~ Marianne Moore
All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own. ~ Johann von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther, 1774
For two years, I challenged people to answer this question: How do you define yourself? I asked people to respond in one sentence of any length beginning with I am... After they answered, I photographed them to illustrate the self-definitions. I received nearly 100 responses from people ages 4 to 100 representing 15 countries. Participants are diverse and include a Holocaust survivor, transgenders, gays, lesbians, a pilot, a police officer, poets, musicians, Muslims, Jews, Christians and athesists. Some people are well-known in their fields but most are not in the public eye.
During those two years, the project took on a life of its own. Perhaps it is best said in an African proverb: We are because I am. I am because we are.
Below are photos of my response and that of my father who was the inspiration for this project, and the talk I give about this two-year photo/word project.
Defining Ourselves
A two-year international and multi-generational photo and word project examining who we are
Background
It’s funny how small things can grow. Take words, for example. Off-hand words are not usually meant to inspire or start anything. but it is what the listener does with the words that plants a seed.
This is what happened to me.
My father has Parkinson’s disease. One day, he was trying to perform an ordinary everyday action and, frustrated with a shaking hand, he said, “Bonnie, this isn’t me.”
Hearing those words awakened something in me and I wondered how he defines himeself. Then I wondered how I would define myself. The seed was planted and it grew.
Beginnings
I spent the next two years reaching out to family, friends, acquaintances and strangers, challenging them to answer a question that goes to the core of their being.
The challenge question was this: “How do you define yourself? Answer in one sentence that begins with ‘I am...”
Some people I asked had never thought about who they are on any level of depth. Like many of us, they habitually go about their everyday lives, bobbing along on an ocean of chores and necessities.
Some people wondered why I was asking this question at all. Good question.
My answer? I believe that in order to appreciate the past, live in the moment and approach the future, we must have an understanding of who we are. And, in order to connect with our world—our environment, other people and our own spirits—we have to examine ourselves at our core. If we are unable to wrap ourselves around our own self-definition, then our lives and connections fall short of what is possible.
Defining Myself
Before asking anyone else to answer this question, I knew I had to take on the task of defining myself.
After much thought, this is my self-definition:
I am a child of the universe who lives a rich life
of creativity, connections and possibilities.
I said child of the universe... child, yes, because I wonder, explore, feel, grow, find delight, learn, walk daringly into emotional minefields — all in a setting of naiveté, trust and optimism. Yes, a child’s point-of-view.
Of the universe suggests my membership in something larger than I am.
In considering the rest of the definition, I thought about what elements of my life, if they were to disappear, would cause me to feel less alive. The answer? I must create and I must connect. My creativity can take many forms.
My connections are with people , environment and spirit.
Possibilities...suggests growth, adventure, change. If we ever lose our sense of possibilities, then we are in the process of dying.
Finally, I consider my life to be rich because of shared energy in all its facets. It is a layered life rather than a linear one. Underlying my definition, my essence, is a broad sense of love.
So, my definition does not depend on my job/career and it doesn’t necessarily depend on my health. I can still be who I am...regardless.
The Process, Considerations
Once I had my own definition, then I could begin asking other people to define themselves. It started with family and friends. Then it extended to friends of friends and sometimes strangers who I approached with this question. Some never answered while others were intrigued by the question.
One thing I stood firm on. I refused to share anyone’s answer with those who were still struggling to find their own. This was uncomfortable for many. They wanted sample answers. They wanted to make sure they answered correctly and in the way I expected. My only condition was it had to be one sentence, of any length, that began with “I am.” I assured people that there were no right or wrong answers unless they didn’t follow those two conditions. Whatever they said would be correct because they were defining themselves and they knew themselves better than I did. Who was I to say they were wrong?
After I received each response, I then shared other answers and portraits. We scheduled a time to do a collaborative portrait that illustrated the self-definition. Logistics were difficult because people were spread around the globe. I made a 600-mile detour to Indiana to get one portrait. For another I flew to California and for another I drove to upstate New York. Some were taken in Japan. One problem I hadn’t anticipated was the difficulty there would be in scheduling time for the portraits. We’re talking about busy people. And some had the idea that this was a small on-going project with no end. They kept saying, “One day we’ll get together to do this.”
A few people responded through e-mail but, because of distance and time, we were unable to connect for a portrait.
Once time was scheduled, then we usually worked together to come up with the concept. As a photographer used to doing my own thing in my own way, this was a different kind of challenge for me. There were two of us working on the portrait. Some people were uncomfortable with showing their faces or being in front of a camera lens at all. I didn’t want to use anything that made someone uncomfortable but, at the same time, I insisted on remaining true to my concept. (If you want to know more about technical details such as camera, lights, etc., you can talk with me later.)
In spite of all the challenges, somehow, over the course of two years, this project has come to fruition. Amazing.
Answers have come from people ages 4 to 100 representing 12 countries. Responses include a Holocaust survivor, transgendered people, gays, lesbians, an airline pilot, Arabs, Jews, Christians. Most participants are not in the public eye – just ordinary people. However, some are known locally and internationally.
The Responses
It fascinates me how people answered this question.
Of all the responses, 24% include career and hobbies in their definitions. Of course, this is not surprising. Consider how many hours a typical person might work at a job/career in a lifetime. Probably more than 93,000 hours, considering working ages 20 to 65.
Twelve percent mention God, spirit or the divine. This includes a wide range of believers and non-believers from various religious backgrounds.
And don’t forget love. Fifteen percent of those who responded to my question have “love” or a form of the word in their definitions. Petronio Bendito says it best in one of my favorite responses, “I am all that I love.” Many self-definitions made me think, but this one the most.
It is most significant that almost half—42%—defined themselves by their relationships. The percentage is even higher when you consider the definitions that imply relationships. This is the area of greatest similarly among respondents. I don’t think anyone would dispute the importance of relationships and how they lead us to new emotional places and better understanding of who we are.
Fred Muir, a Unitarian Universalist minister who participated in this project, puts it succinctly in his self-definition, “I am my relationships.”
It is noteworthy that most people did not define themselves by their nationality or race. Nine percent included age or age-related terms, the majority being young people. Thirteen percent used gender as part of their definitions but none of these were the two transgendered participants.
I find it interesting that 12% expressed a dichotomy, a feeling of the complexity and tug and pull of their being. How often have all of us felt fragmented and torn? How many of us sometimes do battle inside ourselves when making decisions? Recognition of this dichotomy is recognition of our full humanness. Joe Justice, police officer, said it well, “I am simple and complex, logical but emotional, aware yet eternally ignorant, powerful although miniscule—all of these dichotomies because I am human.”
In defining ourselves, there is a consideration of time. Ten percent connected in some way with time... past, present or future. Dirk Hamilton’s, the shortest definition, states simply, “I am here.” However, it is a deceptively simple answer. Those words imply that he embraces and lives in the present, an important tenet of Eckhart Tolle’s book, A New Earth where he says, “People who are able to be present in the now are closest to the essence of their true being.”
In President Carter’s famous “malaise” speech, he pointed out, “Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns.” It is heartening that not one person in this project sought identity through ownership.
Seven percent of the people who responded to my question recognized an evolving self. For some, including my husband, before defining themselves, it was important to understand that who they are today may not be who they are tomorrow. A former student of mine, Justin Wainio, defined himself with this contradiction in mind, “I am always changing while always staying the same.” Anais Nin has an interesting comment in her diary. She says it’s impossible to define yourself because of possibilities. “How can I accept a limited definable self when I feel in me all possibilities? ... I never feel the four walls around the substance of the self, the core. I feel only space.”
In fact, five percent mentioned “possibilities.” This perspective looks forward into the future for what can change, what can be and who we can further become. There is an openness in those who included “possibilities” ... an openness and acceptance of the evolution of “becoming.”
Final Thoughts
This has been a difficult but exciting journey inspired by my father’s comment and it grew into something much larger than I’d anticipated. I learned from everyone who answered and I discovered something part way into the project. This whole thing is not really about me or any one person. It’s about the you and me that makes up the we. Over the past two years, it has taken on a life of its own and I no longer own it. It is ours. Perhaps it is said best in an African Proverb:
For two years, photographer Bonnie Schupp challenged people to answer the question, "How do you define yourself?" The answer had to be just one sentence beginning with the words, "I am..." Answers were followed by defining portrait photos. She received nearly 100 responses from people ages 4 to 100, representing a dozen countries.
Exhibit opening:Sunday, April 5, 12 - 1:30 p.m.
333 Gallery Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis 333 Dubois Rd. Annapolis, MD 21401
Bonnie J. Schupp (1944-2021) was raised in Baltimore and graduated from old Eastern High School in Feb. 1963. She earned a bachelor's degree from Frostburg State College, her master's from Johns Hopkins University, and, at age 60, a doctorate in communications design from the University of Baltimore. She was over the years a public school teacher, camera store owner, writer and award-winning photographer, and mother of two daughters,. She self-published half a dozen books combining her writing and photographs, notable among them "Dog Tag Poetry" (2012, Blurb Books), "365 Gifts on Turning 70" (2016, Amazon), and, posthumously, her memoir "Curious Possibilities" (2021, Amazon) edited by her husband, David M. Ettlin.
