Photo Challenge Week 1

Self Portrait: A picture of who you are but without you in the picture.

Of course, this was a tricky task. How could I take a self-portrait​ without myself in the image? Another problem was to make the picture tell people about me and what I am about but how could I include the camera in the image, after all, photography has been a big part of me for the past year or two.

The image above is my attempt at this challenge. I feel, though, that I may need to explain a few things.

The red and brown Kiehl’s boxes. Yes, I love Keihl’s toiletries and I am often bought a gift box of men’s cosmetics for Christmas or birthday. The boxes you see at the back are empty and are now used as storage for pens, notepaper and other small items.

Landline phone. Yes, I’m old fashioned and still have a landline telephone. You can also see my mobile phone at the bottom left corner sitting on its wireless charger.

A selection of pens. These are the ones I am using at the current time. Others are stored in the Kiehl’s boxes or are in my backpack.

Coffee cup. I had to include coffee in the image somehow and this coffee cup is my way of hinting at my love of coffee. You’ll also notice that the cup has the image of a steam locomotive, which is another hint; this time at my love of steam railways.

A pile. Yes, my life is full of piles. You can interpret that in almost any way you want and it would be accurate! You will notice that the magazine on top is Writing. Strangely, for a magazine on writing, I find this difficult to read, mainly because its layout and style are so uninspiring.

To the left are a number of my award ribbons from Gloucester Speakers, a local Toastmasters club. These are only a selection of my winning ribbons. I have placed these on the desk to demonstrate my interest in public speaking and my membership of the local club.

Across the centre of the desk are three notebooks. I usually have at least one with me and try to use them to capture ideas for note-taking, stories, speeches, or anything else that invades my thoughts.

Alexa. Oh and, yes, that is an Amazon Echo dot. I cannot say that this gets used much as I haven’t yet found much need for it. I include it here because it is usually there and along with the laptop, is representative of my interest and work in technology.

I have already mentioned the mobile phone. It’s an iPhone if you are interested. I have tried Android devices but have generally​ found them to be less pleasant to use than iPhones.

In the centre of the image is an open notebook with a pen. This is here to symbolise my interest in writing. I’m not working toward a novel or any other planned output, I use writing for the sake of writing and for exploring ideas.

Finally, my laptop. This is indicative​ of my interest in technology. Technology and training are also very much part of my work and have been for many years, so it is hardly surprising that this appears in the image.

So there you are; a​ portrait of me but without me in the image. It’s as accurate and as close as I can make it right now. I will admit, though, there are a few things missing; travel, for example, is something I really enjoy but is not represented here, Liverpool FC, my favourite football team are not represented. I could​ also have added various food, nuts, ginger, marmite and real ale.

One aspect of this image which I will admit is not really representative of me, is that the desk is tidy! That is not usually the case and is done only for the photograph.